


Legacy

by CanuckleheadCowgirl, magnetocerebro



Series: The 714 Marvel Universe [20]
Category: Avengers (Comics), New Avengers (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Kart ship's a sailin'!, Let KATE BE SO SO HAPPY, Let Kurt be happy!, Let Logan be happy!, Let Scott be happy!, Make our faves happy 2K18, Open seas YARG
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-07-14 11:40:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 61,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16039751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanuckleheadCowgirl/pseuds/CanuckleheadCowgirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetocerebro/pseuds/magnetocerebro
Summary: Volume 17 of the 714 Universe: What does it mean to have a legacy? For the rich and powerful it's as simple as an heir, but it's not that simple for X-Men and Avengers. Aging, kids, hero work... not to mention the usual crap ... if you can call what the X-Men put up with 'usual'.





	1. Chapter 1

The day before James turned one, he had really gotten the hang of  _running_ and not just walking — which meant his birthday was an adventure and a half.

His favorite trick had very quickly become running full bore, tipped foward until someone or something stopped him — running headlong into everything, as it were. Lucky for him, that usually meant Scott, Logan, or Kurt scooping him up before he could topple forward. Every single time it would happen, the little guy would fall apart in full-blown belly laughs as he got scooped up, and every single time, whoever was picking him up couldn't help but join him in the laughs.

Annie was cautiously optimistic about this one and his cake — since he was an expert at smashing things and making messes everywhere he went, even if he seemed to share his parents usual aversion to sweets. But even that didn't seem exactly a rock steady thing as of late, and she had to frown when she thought of it.

Either way, the party was set to be something special, since it was a two-fer anyhow. Several of Logan's old teammates were coming in from Canada to see the little guy in action for themselves. Heather and Mac Hudson had even gone out of their way to go pick up Harry Tabeshaw to surprise Logan, and although Logan's expression fell for a moment on seeing how quickly Harry's health had begun to slip over the last year or so, it was immediately covered with a wide smile as Harry made a point to tell K that she was with the wrong old man — and he'd be happy to take her back to Canada with him.

Logan had to laugh at that as K gave Logan a kiss on the cheek, then grinned and simply slipped onto Harry's lap with one arm around his neck as she played along, getting a good laugh out of old Harry before Elin came over to say hello.

Once the party had gotten into full-swing, Peter was set to go with his camera by the time the cake came around, and he was just  _waiting_ for something good, so he was absolutely stunned when James just … stopped and looked at the crowd that seemed to be waiting to catch him doing something wrong.

Elin tried to help him, even going so far as to try to put his hand in the frosting, but he pulled it away from her and shoved it down by his side as he shook his head 'no'.

That was when Kurt very gently stepped in with a little smile and carefully snitched a little piece from the bottom of the cake and with an impish wink popped it in his mouth slowly so James could see him do it.

James leaned forward, his eyes on Kurt with an intensity that they weren't used to seeing from the little guy. Kurt got a little closer to try to let him see it was okay, talking quietly to him and encouraging him. Finally, James very slowly picked up one hand and started toward his little cake with it — but at the last moment, he darted his hand forward and nearly ripped the treat in half to shove most of it into Kurt's face with a little smirk before he started belly laughing again.

Even Kurt couldn't help laughing at the pure  _glee_ in James' expression as he tried to wipe most of the frosting and cake off of his fur, though when Kate gently took him around the waist and promised to help him get cleaned off, he didn't look nearly as shocked and started to laugh more wholeheartedly.

The little guy never did squish it like the other kids did, but he did break down in giggles every time he saw Kurt for the rest of the night. To the surprise of most of them, he waited for his father to come and get him before he even moved toward any more of the frosting. When Logan reached down to pick him up, he very carefully got his father too — but not nearly as well as he'd hit Kurt. And it apparently wasn't nearly as funny — since he was still giggling at Kurt.

By the time Heather got a hold of James, she had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard, and he was positively eating it up — and of course, Kari and Cody were falling apart in belly laughs as well. They had no idea why everyone else was laughing, but clearly  _something_ was hilarious, and they were simply unable to stop.

Logan made his way over to Kurt with an expression that showed absolutely no apologies as he smirked at his best friend. "Looks like he's trying to do you a favor too, Elf."

"He knows I love all things sweet," Kurt said with a smirk to match as Kate was unashamedly wiping a bit of frosting from her own face.

"He's got a sense of humor. I was hoping if he was gonna get someone, it would be Scott or Mac though, truth be told."

"No, no — he can tell it's much harder to get cake out of fur than anything else," Kate said with that same unashamed grin. "He's so helpful."

"Well, he's gonna be hard to break that little habit," Logan said. "So keep him from frosting, I guess. He doesn't even like it." Kate looked over at the little guy in Heather's arms, and sure enough, as she tried to give James a fingerful of frosting, the little guy immediately spit it out and shook his head at her. "He just likes to make people kiss," Logan told him.

"And laugh," Kurt agreed, still smiling.

"I'm sure you'll understand when you see the pictures later," Logan said with a troublemaking twinkle in his eyes. "It was much better from the other side."

"That's what Kate told me — though not in so many words," Kurt said with a troublemaking smile of his own.

At that, Heather brought James over to the little group, since he was loudly and insistently asking for "my ELF" to anyone that would look his way. When James saw Kurt, he leaned toward him, totally ignoring that doing so that quickly nearly had him slipping right out of Heather's arms.

Kurt teleported over in a flash to catch the little boy and scooped him right up as James fell into belly laughs all over again. "Don't get ahead of yourself, little one," Kurt laughed as he kissed James' forehead.

James had one little hand over his stomach as he grinned up at Kurt, then threw his arms around his neck to snuggle in. When he settled down a little bit, he pushed himself up and looked Kurt in the eyes before he gave him a kiss on the nose and snuggled back into his sholder.

K made her way over to Kate and bumped hips with her. "That's quite the look on him, dontcha think?"

Kate laughed. "Yeah, the man looks good with a baby." She shifted Kari in her arms as she said it.

"Not just a baby … a dark-haired little boy all curled up. It's a love fest like no other, I think."

Kate just gave K a bit of a  _look_. "You are trying to get me in trouble."

"I'm trying to get you to do more than play with frosting." She shrugged. "Not that it's a bad thing. Just .. you know. You're a heartbeat away from Irish twins. Just saying."

Kate rolled her eyes K's way. "We  _do_ more than play with frosting, not that it's any of your business." She tipped her head at Kurt. "Don't jinx me. I'm just now getting back up to full on hand-to-hand after this one."

"That's usually when the trouble starts. Catholic. All that," K muttered almost soft enough to make it sound like she hadn't meant for Kate to hear it.

"You... " Kate shook her head and laughed. "You're trouble."

"I don't think Logan would want to keep me if I wasn't," K pointed out.

"Good point." Kate laughed again and, before K could protest, she gently tipped Kari into K's arms as the little pink elf let out a delighted giggle and wrapped herself tightly around K's neck. "And I, in turn, jinx you with baby girl dust."

"Hey. let's get one thing straight: if I go down, I'm taking you with me," K warned.

"You have no control over that, sorry," Kate sang out.

"No? The nose knows when to hand out subtle suggestions, and I am sneakier than you," K replied.

"I will take you down with me too if you jinx me first," Kate promised.

"You already jinxed me — I'm just jinxing you back."

"She's not going to do anything like that," Logan assured Kate. "Don't let her scare you."

Kate harrumphed for a moment before she got a bit of a twinkle in her eyes. "Scared? Me? Au contraire!  _I'm_ the one with a business and a PI license to fall back on while I'm out of the field. I rocked the pregnant PI look, and you know it."

"Yeah, real nice work too," K agreed. "So you should make a career out of it, don't you think?"

"I already have," Kate pointed out. "Just not the pregnant part — the career part."

"That was the charming part," she said. "You got more done then because everyone was bringing you your meals and you didn't have to leave your office. I'm sure Kurt wouldn't argue with being a stay-at-home Elf."

"That much is true," Kurt said with a grin. "What is the context again?"

"Kate was considering a career as a pregnant PI. She needs your help with part of that anyhow," K answered for her.

Kate was brilliantly red-faced as she leveled a finger at K. "That is not what I said, and you know it," she insisted, as Kurt started to chuckle, clearly guessing what argument they were having (again).

But still, Kurt couldn't help but tease a little. "You did look very cute in your sweatshirts and your coffee in that office of yours."

Logan was the one to give Kate a significant look that got her half glaring his way. "I  _always_ look cute," she told Kurt, blatantly ignoring Logan, who was smirking wider at her reaction.

"Yes, this is also true," Kurt said with a little grin.

"You definitely wear the mom-to-be look better than I do," K said.

"Ah, but you wear the just-had-a-baby look best, and it frustrates me so," Kate replied.

"That's true," K said with a little grin. "Annie gets so mad."

"Well, she had  _twins_."

"She did. And she was precious with them," K agreed. "Let's be real, though. I think it's Jubes' turn."

Kate broke into a little troublemaking laugh. "You and Sying are on the same page there. Did you hear what he asked for from Santa for Christmas?"

"We're not the only ones," K said quietly, though at that, Logan looked a bit irritated.

"That's alright; Noh's been working with Tony on something spectacular for Christmas for the kids, and they won't tell  _anyone_ what it is, so hopefully Sying won't be  _too_ disappointed when he doesn't get a little brother or sister," Kate said with a little shrug. "You know when those two get together on a project, it's bound to be amazing."

"Of course it will be," K said, sounding totally unconcerned about any possibility of it not being spectacular. "What do  _you_ want for Christmas, though?"

Kate glanced at Kurt for a moment and then shrugged up to one ear. "Honestly, I'm set. Everything I could need right here."

"Come on; gotta be something that sounds good, a little something to make you smile. You don't seem the type to go for jewelry." K smiled her way. "More like the kind that would go for a new experience."

"Yeah, never been a jewelry girl, but I'll buy it for myself to look nice for the parties," Kate said, waving an unconcerned hand. "Adventures, little swashbuckling, new places — way more fun. And not easy to buy. But I  _do_ get to go to far-off places with my job being a superhero — why do you think I do it?" she teased.

"For the chicks," K deadpanned. "Definitely for the chicks."

Logan snorted at that one and very gently pulled K back away from them by the belt loops of her jeans. "And with that — I think we're going to cut out," he said, still half laughing.

"Have fun," Kurt said, grinning and shaking his head at both of them.

"Try not to come back with more than you brought with," Kate couldn't resist calling out.

"No guarantees! I have no real desire to say no when it's his birthday," K called back before Logan scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

* * *

K and Logan returned very late in the day the Monday after Logan's birthday. They'd taken a very long weekend, and they were absolutely shameless on their return, which had Annie a little irritated — ' _not in front of the kids_ ' — while the kids giggled at the two of them.

"It's okay, Mommy. You're  _supposed_ to kiss people when you like them," Chance told her consolingly as he patted her hand.

Logan ruffled his hair as he passed him, which had the little guy giggling, and Annie sighed, knowing that he was technically right. "Yes, that's true," she had to admit.

"Here, Mommy, I show you. Come here," Chance said, pulling on her hand until she bent down so he could give her a kiss on the cheek.

Annie beamed at him and kissed his forehead in return. "You're very right, Chance."

The ferals grabbed their late dinner and slipped into a corner, fully intending to refuel and go snatch the kids up — when Kate and Kurt came down with them instead as K and Logan were again kissing in the corner.

"Ewwww," Krissy called out with a little giggle. "Cooties!"

Kate didn't even bother to try to hide her laughter as she nodded her agreement. "And what do we say about cooties?" she asked.

"Noooooo," Krissy said, shaking her head emphatically. " _Nein_."

"It's too late for her," Logan muttered before he kissed K again to try and get Krissy to protest against the whole scene again.

"No cooties!" Krissy insisted.

But K waved her off, laughing at Logan's good mood and happily participating. "Nothing wrong with this," K defended.

"Mama says no cooties until I am  _twenty_."

"For you," K said. "Do you know how old he is?"

Krissy eyed them both up and down with one eye closed. "You are  _really_ old. Like ... maybe ...  _seven_."

"A hundred and thirty-four for me, and a hundred and fifteen for her," Logan told her. "So … way more than twenty."

Krissy was wide-eyed as she looked him over. "That is  _really, really_ old."

He nodded in agreement. "It really, really is."

She looked thoughtful about it for a moment and then nodded to herself before she tried to climb up in between them. "Okay. You can have cooties  _I guess_. But I need kisses  _first_."

Logan gave her a little frown as if it was an imposition before both Logan and K gave her a kiss on the cheek and tickled her until she was gasping for breath.

"She's been looking forward to kisses from both of you all day," Kurt said with a little smile as he watched his best friend and his daughter trying to tickle each other.

"Yeah, got a little distracted on the way back," Logan told him before he gave Krissy a bear hug and looked up at Kurt. "Now it's your turn to go get distracted."

"Yes, it really is," he agreed, sliding his arm around Kate's waist as he grinned and kissed the side of her head. "The little ones are both upstairs sleeping," he added Logan's way. "But we promised Elin and Krissy they could stay up to see you."

"Are they in your room or ours?" K asked.

"Ours," Kate said. "We weren't sure when you would be back, and Kari still doesn't quite sleep through the night — sorry in advance."

"It's fine," K promised. "I'll see if I can talk her into it."

"She does love snuggling with her godmother," Kurt agreed with a warm smile.

"And I won't spoil her at  _all_ and let her snuggle in bed with me," K teased.

"No, not at all," Kurt chuckled before he grinned at both of them and waved, teleporting away with Kate while Krissy was still well-distracted trying to tickle Logan back.

* * *

It was the last day of Kate and Kurt's anniversary trip out to the coast of France, and they spent a long and lazy morning waking up before they finally decided it really was time to gather up their things, check out, and head back home before Christmas got into full swing. Kurt went down to the resort desk to get everything squared away, while Kate hopped in the shower to take one last long, warm soak before returning home where such things were only daydreams when Krissy was at that age when privacy was not even an idea in her head and everything needed attention  _now_.

She took a good long time and got the whole long mirror good and steamy, so she didn't even see her reflection until she was changing out in their room and noticed something in the reflection above the desk.

She'd never doubted her sharp eyesight, but for just a second, she thought,  _No way_.

In a flash, she was leaning over the desk to look in the mirror more closely, and yes, there it was — a single, long gray hair just... hanging out on her head. It was about where she would usually put her headband, too, so she wasn't entirely sure how long it had  _been_ there.

"You are  _kidding_ me," she told her reflection, and for a good long while, she stayed there in a bit of a staring match with the mirror, still wrapped in her towel — so that was how Kurt found her when he came back up.

"Did you leave  _any_ hot water?" he teased her gently as he wrapped her up in a kiss, and she just had to shake her head at him for a moment and kiss him right back before she directed his attention to the problem at hand.

"I'm going  _gray_ , Kurt!" she said, more annoyed than anything else. "This — this is your fault. I am still in my twenties."

"Is this where I'm supposed to apologize for helping you live a life of adventure and intrigue?" Kurt asked with a bit of a sheepish look on his face. "If so, then I am deeply sorry that I'm not sorry at all."

She playfully hit him in the shoulder and rolled her eyes. "You know I hate it when you're too charming for me to get mad at."

"Then you must be hateful all the time," he said with a devilish grin.

She laughed at that and pulled him into a deep kiss. "Oh, all the time. It's a problem," she said seriously.

"You should let all that anger go," he said before he gave her a quick kiss. "You'll go gray."

She gasped and hit him in the shoulder again. "You are so mean!" she accused him, though she was laughing.

"You're beautiful and you know it," Kurt said as he swept her up off her feet. "What is one gray hair anyhow?"

"Oh, I'll be gorgeous when I'm ninety," she assured him.

"If you get enough of them, you could dye them purple," he teased.

"See, you say that like it's not an actual option, but now I want to do that," she teased him right back.

"I know; it'll be stunning," he said with a widening grin.

"Little old purple-haired lady," she said, matching his grin for a moment as she thought it over.

"I'll put hot rod flames on your walker."

She laughed outright and kissed him deeply again. "Ah yes. I'll be the snazziest old lady ever. You, on the other hand, will still look  _twenty_ , you imp." She put on a dramatically jealous expression. "Not even fair."

"Then perhaps JJ will change his tune by then — and you'll be the one corrupting the sweet little imp."

Kate couldn't help but chuckle at that as she nodded. "True…"

"He'll be totally bald. He'll be on oxygen and carting around an IV pole. His hearing aids will need a rolling cart to carry them. Blind. But he'll never be mute. Ever."

Kate was giggling madly by then, wrapping her arms around his neck as she grinned up at him. "Have I ever told you how perfect you are?" she said at last.

"Not today," he replied with a smile.

"Well, you are. Just so perfect." She wrapped him up in a good long kiss before she finally leaned into him and sighed. "We should get back," she said as he finally set her back down on her feet, and she readjusted the towel with a little self-deprecating smile. "Alright. Freakout over. Thanks for talking me down, handsome."

"Anytime you need it,  _liebchen_ ," he promised. "You shouldn't get upset — you look beautiful always."

"And I've seen you go gray. You'll look so distinguished," she pointed out.

"I hope that was the worst-case scenario," Kurt said with a smirk.

"K  _did_ say you aged fast after all the horrible. But I still think it was a really good look — the gray at the edges. So respectable."

"Yet both of them looked the same as they do now," Kurt said shaking his head.

"I know. So, so jealous." Kate grinned as she pulled on some jeans and a purple sweater before she took another glance in the mirror, frowned, and ... plucked the gray. She settled her headband over her hair and spun to face Kurt. "We'll just pretend that didn't happen until I'm at  _least_ thirty. Just give me two more weeks of denial."

"Denial about what?" Kurt said with his head tipped to the side. "I see nothing to confirm or deny."

She grinned and threw her arms around his neck again. "Oh, yes. I'm keeping you."

"I hope so," he said before he pulled her tighter into a kiss and teleported them back home.

When they arrived, it was still very early morning in that part of the world, so the mansion was still quiet. But the two of them peeked into Logan and K's room to check on the kids - only to find that every single one of them was zonked out in the room, along with the bamfs, in a massive cuddle pile.

Cody and James were asleep on Logan's chest, and Kari was perfectly snuggled up on top of K, with Elin between K and Logan. And the twins were sleeping at the foot of the bed, half spread-eagled with their mouths open and lightly snoring. Only Sying was awake at all out of all of the kids, though he was pretending to be asleep and had his eyes screwed tightly shut, because Krissy was conked out on top of him and he didn't want to move at all.

"Mornin'," Logan said very low, the word coming out almost as just a rumble as he opened his eyes. "Have fun?"

Kate and Kurt, nodded with matching, wide grins on seeing the massive cuddle pile. "It looks like you did as well," Kurt said, looking over the kids.

"They like to stick together when they get the greenlight to come here," Logan said with a tip of his head. "They flat didn't wanna split up."

"Not when they knew they could get cuddles," Kate said, beaming at the scene and suppressing a smile when Sying peeked one tightly closed eye open like he wasn't sure if he should still be pretending to be asleep or not — since people were talking now.

"I don't know what you were talking about," K said softly. "Kari hasn't woken up overnight at all." The little elfling let out a hitched sigh and snuggled in a bit deeper.

"It must be because she got to snuggle her godmother all night every night," Kurt said, grinning K's way.

"Not every night. She traded off me for James most of the time," K said with a smirk.

"Ah, well. Can't resist the giant hug magnet," Kate said philosophically. "She  _is_ my daughter, after all. Throw Kurt's genes in there and… well. Sorry, Logan. You're stuck with us all."

"I see that," he said, shifting how he was resting. "Come back when you're ready for your girls."

"You just want to stay in the snuggle pile a while longer," Kate accused him with a smirk.

"I don't want to wake up the tiny Summers." Logan replied. "Scott wasn't real thrilled that he wanted to stay here the whole time with the big kids."

"He shouldn't have been surprised, though," Kurt reasoned with a little smile. "That seems like a given — that his son would want to be where the action is."

"Then his son is a little off-kilter, because there has been no action — unless you count the wrestling match the twins got into earlier over movie selection."

"That counts for his age," Kurt said easily. "He'll work up to something more dangerous in the far future."

"Right. If you say so," Logan said as Charlie opened her eyes and lifted a finger to her lips.

"Shhhhh. We sleepnin' still," she said in a very tired voice.

"You wanna go snuggle your dad?" Logan asked. "I think he missed you guys."

Charlie hadn't looked like she wanted to leave, but at Logan's suggestion that Scott had missed them, she started to nod very slowly, and she reached over with one hand to shake Chance awake. "Wake up, Chance. We gotta go see Mom and Dad," she whispered, and Chance tried very hard to ignore her until she was all but in his face, and he finally had to let out a defeated sigh and roll over.

"Why-y-y-y?"

"Because they  _miss_ us."

Chance let out a sigh on seeing her determined expression and slowly picked up his head. "Fine," he grumbled, rubbing at his eyes with closed fists.

Logan moved to slip out of bed and laid James down in his place, where Elin immediately snuggled up to him. "I'll take you guys down," Logan offered before he gave Kurt and Kate a look.

"Yeah, we gotta bring Cody," Charlie agreed as she and Chance slid carefully off of the bed to follow after Logan.

The little group left bound for the Summers' room, leaving the Wagners to help sort out the rest of the kids. Kurt knelt down next to Sying and very carefully peeled Krissy off of him. "Do you want to go by your mom and dad?" he asked quietly.

Sying nodded and put a finger to his lips. "No wakenin her up," he said.

Kurt shook his head in agreement and looked toward Kate. "Meet you back in the room," he said as he left with Krissy and Sying.

Kate sat down next to K and looked over her sleeping baby girl. "Do you want me to take her — or do you want to keep snuggling her?" she asked with a teasing smile.

"I think she'd sleep better with you, but you can leave her if you'd rather."

Kate smirked and gently took Kari, smiling outright when the little girl snuggled right into her mom and let out another little contented sigh. "Just want to make sure you get all the glitter you need," Kate teased.

"Didn't you get the memo?" K asked. "I apparently spontaneously explode in my own glitter at random intervals. Stand back." She leaned forward with a sudden frown and made a point to let Kate know she was taking a deep sniff. "Not yet. I'll check again next week."

Kate rolled her eyes at K. "Check while you can. I'm not getting any younger," she teased lightly.

"Yeah? What makes you say that?" K asked, slipping a bit further down into bed.

Kate waved a hand. "Oh, just an impending thirtieth birthday."

"Oh is that all?" K asked with a little wave. "Not even a speed bump. You still have at least … what … six, seven years or so? By Catholic math, that's another … eight kids."

"You are trying to make me go gray faster. You know that?"

"I am not," she said, shaking her head. "I just want to see that snuggly baby glow on you and your old man before you have to rely on us for that kind of buzz. The way that man can pressure people, I do  _not_ want him dropping 'hints' that we need another dozen or so to keep him in baby snuggles."

Kate chuckled at bit at that. "Well, he can always bother Tammy and Tyler too," she pointed out. "Whole new generation to bother."

"Yeah. but he's already made jokes about how every kid around here needs one of ours to play with," K replied dryly.

"That wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't true so far," Kate pointed out.

"It's  _not_ funny when you factor in that it could happen," K said. "Luckily, I don't think Logan's trying to overthrow the balance of Summers. Yet."

Kate laughed and had to nod her agreement. "They  _do_ rule the roost right now. Or at least Charlie thinks so."

"I think the way he's looking at it is that there needs to be more of them to keep up with us."

Kate smirked. "Then it's a good thing Annie and Scott started out with twins."

"They needed the head start," K agreed, then readjusted to look up at Kate a little better. "But why are you even worried about it? You're going to be 30, not 50."

"Compared to Kurt…" Kate leaned back and sighed.

"Don't compare to Kurt. Compare to Kate. Only Kate," K said with a frown.

"You didn't see the older Kurt. The one without his Kate," Kate pointed out.

"He probably looked like shit without you," K said with a shrug and her eyes closed.

"Actually, yeah." Kate let out a sigh. "It's just ... something I heard the older him saying to  _my_ Kurt."

"So… he was talking to himself in his advanced years? Not surprised."

"Talking about  _me_." Kate raised an eyebrow.

"To himself. Regardless of what he thinks, that's not expert counsel. That's totally biased."

Kate shook her head and let out her breath; she obviously wasn't getting through what she wanted to say. "You know he's gonna outlive me, right?"

"No, I don't," K said. "We're not promised anything."

Kate almost smiled at that. "Well, let's say optimistically that we both die of old age. And that... is a lot of time alone for him." She let out a long breath and ran a hand through her hair. "I'll be old and gray, and he'll still be young and spry and…"

"Good. You'll have a young man to take care of you," she said with a nod. "And he'll dote on you to your last breath. Then he'll move into our spare room."

"It scares me," Kate admitted in a rush.

"Don't let it," K said with a frown. "If you do that, you're tainting the time you have. Stop it."

Kate let out a little breath of a laugh and shook her head as she scooted closer to K and laid her head on the older woman's shoulder. "Yeah, shut up, Kate's brain. Stop worrying so much."

"That — the time leap or whatever the hell you want to call it —that's all alternate future now. And you have  _years_  ahead of you. You're healthy. You have people that care and access to help when you need it. Be happy for all of that. It wasn't always that way."

Kate bit her lip and lifted her head to meet K's gaze for a moment before she let out a long breath. "You're right. I know. I'm just being stupid," she said quietly.

"Not entirely," K conceded. "You can only go off of the life experiences you have. For everything else, you have to rely on learning through other people's mistakes — or beating your head on the wall while you go through it yourself."

"Lucky me I have my hug magnet and my fashion advisor for a couple centuries' worth of life advice," Kate said with a little smirk.

"Yeah, there's that," K said with a sigh. "Lucky you."

Kate tipped her head K's way. "Though if you ever want advice on spoiled rich girl daddy issues, I can always help," she said, trying to tease.

"That would be an interesting change of pace. I'd love to hear about your first world problems and compare them to the horse and buggy days."

Kate looked a bit abashed and looked down at Kari. "Yeah."

"Come on, tell me about some of it," K said with a smile. "Makes me happy when I can hear how little you kids have to fret over."

"It's so inconsequential."

"That's kind of the point," K said. "It's nice to hear that the worst day of some of these kids' lives is when they couldn't get the cell phone they wanted and had to settle for one in a different color. That's marvelous."

Kate snorted at that and grinned up at K. "I tried not to be  _that_ kid," she said.

"They're  _all_ that kid," she said with a wave. "It's good that they're all having pretty damn good childhoods. Really. Until you get an oddball like Tyler that got chased down for being too blonde with claws. Though, you know, I understand that one."

Kate snorted out another little laugh and nodded. "Well, I did have the supervillain father beating down a guy in my dining room once or twice, so there's that."

"Seriously? Dad was a thug, huh?" K said, looking her way — a little bit more impressed.

"He usually had someone else doing it, but sometimes he lost his temper," Kate admitted. "He didn't know I knew it was going on when I got older, but… I didn't know it was supervillain bad? Just ... guys who cheated him. Stole his money. I thought  _they_ were the bad guys and he was just mad."

"He probably spun it a bit that way," K said with a nod. "We had the evil stepfather."

"Oh?" Kate raised an eyebrow at that. "You know, usually, the  _old_ stories have the evil stepmother, but I guess you like to play it different."

"Had to put a spin on it," K said with a shrug.

"I had a half dozen step-moms. Last one? I went to high school with," Kate said.

"That's just … ugh. So skeezy."

"Yeah, her name was Heather. She was mad I got everything when Dad died."

"Mom got everything when the stepdad died suddenly." K gave Kate a tight smile. "But I didn't stick around to see what she did with it."

"Sounds like he and my dad both got what was coming to them."

"From what I understand? In pretty similar ways," K said with a nod.

"And I shall forever remain ignorant in that regard," Kate said. "Because I don't want to know, and I legally should  _not know_."

"Yeah, well … with mine, I don't think they would have kept any forensics for that long. Or that there even were forensics back then."

"Yeah, must have been harder to be a PI back then."

"I'd imagine," she said thoughtfully. "If it wasn't a plain trail, I don't think they had a way to really look into it. I don't think they even did fingerprinting at that time. At least, not outside of big cities."

"And here I am with my two desktops and a laptop doing PI work from home," Kate said with a quiet smirk.

"Amazing," K said with a little laugh. "Anything else you feeling down about that I can poke holes in for you?"

"No, just the old thing," she laughed.

"Okay. well, you're not old," K promised. "You have no proof of it either, so shush."

Kate very carefully considered K. "I… might have found a gray hair this morning. But if you tell anyone, you are  _dead to me_."

"Just the one?" K asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah." Kate looked a bit sheepish.

"Is it dead to you now?"

"I plucked it, yeah."

"Oh, well that's a mistake. You'll have five more in its place."

"That's an old wives tale," Kate said, shaking her head.

K pointed to herself. "Actually. Old. Actually a wife."

"True." Kate laughed and stood up, cradling Kari and feeling much more relaxed now — she had really just needed someone to listen to her worries.

"My gramma used to say you got them from being scared. So what did Kurt do to scare you? Sex on the chandeliers? Because that would totally not be an abuse of his abilities."

"You're ridiculous. And I have no comment either way," Kate said with a smirk.

"I'm just saying. If you haven't, you should. You know. Before you …like ... break a hip. Or something. I wouldn't know. I can't break that either."

"See, now I am quickly regretting my decision to tell you."

"Unless the whole point of the sexy swingin' chandelier hip-breaking weekend is to go and have to explain in detail to Tyler exactly how it happened? That … I'll pay you for that one. That kid needs some corrupting."

"That poor innocent little church boy does  _not_ need to hear that," Kate laughed.

"I think he does. I think Wade should draw the diagrams. He's an artist, you know."

"Yeah, I officially regret telling you anything," Kate announced, grinning as she headed for the door.

"I'll tell you about the horse and buggy days some other time. When we had to tough it out when we broke something and couldn't explain how it happened to the docs." K said with a smile as she slipped down under the covers and pulled the little ones closer. "You know. When the kids aren't around."

"Yes. Little ears," Kate agreed, tipping her head toward Elin before she waved the hand that wasn't holding Kari. "See you around, old lady."


	2. God Jul

Christmas at the mansion was, as usual, a huge affair. Kitty and Peter Quill came in from space to be part of the holiday celebrations, and Alex and Lorna had come in as well — and with both of Annie's sisters coming up too, the mansion was pretty well teeming with family and friends.

As was quickly becoming the tradition, too, the Summers twins were the first ones awake, almost like clockwork,  _so excited_ to wake everyone up and get them downstairs for presents. They were particularly excited for the youngest kids — Cody and Kari — because it was their  _first_ Christmas. But of course Chance wanted to go to the Howletts' room first, because another Christmas tradition was his insistence that he give Elin her Christmas present before anything else.

So, the little twins came bounding down the halls with bright and beaming smiles as they knocked on the door and, as soon as they stepped inside, Chance showed off the handmade ornament for Elin that he had been working on all week.

Elin looked up at him and waited until he was close enough to pull him down to snuggle, covering his mouth with her hand as she told him to shush. "Too early," she said quietly.

Chance grinned at her. "But it's Christmas," he told her, even though he was clearly not going to fight the snuggle and was content to stay right there.

" _God Jul_ ," she replied. "Shush."

He giggled a little bit and then snuggled right up with her as Charlie smirked and climbed up into the bed to snuggle between Logan and K, who were both pretending to be asleep as the little girl laid her head on Logan's chest and beamed, so it was a much more reasonable hour when the kids finally got tired of snuggling and decided it was time to start running around to wake up  _all_ the adults in the house.

When Charlie had gotten enough cuddles, she couldn't help but start fidgeting and squirming — which got a growl from her pillow to start with. But when she didn't stop giggling and shifting around, he started to tickle her mercilessly.

"Help, Chance!" Charlie managed to get out between giggles — and of course, the little boy was there in a second to rise to the challenge of trying to tickle Logan as he popped up onto the bed looking like he was on a  _mission_.

His expression was so adorable that as he started to really dive into his work, K reached out and yanked him into a bear hug and started peppering the side of his face with kisses. "You're such a cute little hero," K told him.

He squirmed more and gave her a couple quick kisses to try to placate her and get her to stop. "I gotta help sissy!" he insisted as he tried to escape.

"Help sissy do what?" K asked as she shifted from holding him tight to tickling him too.

He was squealing with laughter and valiantly trying to get away, though he really didn't have a chance, so he finally had to call out, "Help! Elin!"

Elin giggled and slipped out of her bed to walk over and over to where the tickles were. She looked at the two adults grinning and tickling before she walked around the bed to give her father a quick kiss — then do the same for her mother — not interrupting the tickles immediately. When she did finally get involved, though... it was to  _help_ tickle Chance with a bright smile.

"Okay, I'm helping," she said with a little laugh.

"No-o-o-o-o-o," Chance moaned as he simply gave up on trying to fight the two Howlett ladies and curled up in as tight a ball as he could, still giggling as they both started peppering him with kisses.

Charlie had tried to take the same approach, and it was pretty quickly a new little game as the three of them tried to be very still so they didn't get tickled by one of the adults until James woke up with a little laugh and Logan got up to get him — which freed up the kids to make a break for it.

Chance led the escape with extreme haste and was half watching Elin to keep away from her in case she started up with the tickling again, but when it looked like they were safe, he grinned triumphantly. "Okay! Present time!" he declared as he seized both Elin and Charlie by the hands and started to pull them along behind him to the room next door to get the Wagners up.

Of course, by then, it was late enough that Kari and Krissy had started to wake up on their own, so when the twins and Elin knocked on the door, it was to find all three Wagner women at the door and dressed in their Christmas sweaters — with Kurt behind them making sure each of the bamfs had their own candy canes and Christmas morning snuggles as the imps seemed to get more and more excited about Christmas every year.

" _Fröhliche Weihnachten!_ " Krissy declared as soon as the doors were open, and the careful pronunciation, along with the very proud smile on Kurt's face, told everyone who could see them that Krissy and Kurt had been practicing that one.

" _God Jul_ ," Elin replied with a grin as she wrapped her best friend up in a hug, though even after the hug was over, the two girls kept on holding hands as they headed down the halls to go get Sying.

"It Kari's first Christmas," Krissy told Elin with a very big and proud big sister smile as she drew herself up a little taller. "I'nna help her open presents!"

Elin giggled and nodded her agreement. "Kari and Cody are too  _little_ for presents."

"That's what big sisters are for," Charlie said as she skipped ahead of Chance to join the girls' whispered conversation with a wide grin.

"And big brothers!" Chance insisted, and all three girls giggled at him.

Sying wasn't quite awake yet when the little group of kids arrived at his door, so they headed down to go get Magda in the meantime.

When Lorna opened the door to see the group of excited kids going around to pick up all their friends on the way down to Christmas breakfast and presents, she melted into a huge smile and crouched down at their level so that she could give each and every one of them a warm hug while Alex finished wrestling Magda into her clothes. "Merry Christmas," she told them, to a chorus of responses in three different languages.

When Magda was ready, she darted out of Alex's grasp and rushed over to wrap up both of her cousins in big hugs before she grabbed Charlie by the hand and immediately started to gush to her about how excited she was to have a snowball fight later on and how  _cool_ it was that there was snow to play with in the first place.

"It still really warm back home," she explained to Charlie.

But as enchanted as Magda was with the snow and the winter activities, Charlie was beaming over Magda's Hawaiian home. "You get to go to the beach even at Christmastime!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed, as she listened to her cousin talk about her home, and it was no time at all before the two little girls were trading stories back and forth happily, all but forgetting about the other kids as they were totally wrapped up in each other.

And then, at last, when Sying finally caught up with the little group, all six kids headed downstairs in one huge mob to get to the kitchen for their traditional sweets.

By the time they'd gotten downstairs, the scent of cinnamon and coffee was already getting thick as K had pulled out all the stops for the breakfast crowd. The Swedish pancakes were already out, and Remy was grinning as the little ones made their way in.

"What you smilin' bout?" he asked them as they filed in. "You think you been good dis year?"

"Really, really good!" Chance assured him as he ran over to hug him around the knees before Remy swept the little guy up and tossed him in the air, seeming to produce a candy cane out of thin air to give the giggling little boy.

Sying of course ran over to walk up the cabinets to get closer to where K was working. "Merry Christmas, Grammy K!" he called out happily, and she pulled him into a little snuggle and kissed the top of his head.

" _God Jul_ , little sparkly maple leaf," she said as he grinned delightedly.

"I've been really, really,  _really_ good," he whispered in her ear. "Do you think Santa will get me a little brother or sister?"

K looked the little boy over for a moment, and he looked so hopeful that she had to let out a breath and boop him on the nose. "Those take a really long time to make, sparkly sunshine boy. You'll have to give Santa a little more time than just this Christmas."

Sying considered her answer with pursed lips for a moment before he finally let out all his breath and nodded. "Okay," he said. "Maybe next year?"

"Maybe," K said before she set the little boy down and gently scooted him in Krissy's direction, as the little elfling was in a good mood and looked like she might want to share some sweets.

Leslie Ann and Jana made their way downstairs as well, the two teenagers giggling over the mob of little kids with sticky faces and fingers, and Leslie Ann couldn't help but crouch down by her little cousins and produce a few poinsettias to tuck into Magda and Charlie's hair — and for Chance to give to both Krissy and Elin, because, as he insisted, "All the girls should have flowers!"

Remy grinned as he watched the sweet little boy giving Leslie Ann's flowers to Elin and Krissy — and then go back to ask for one for his mom and K — and leaned against the counter to grin Jana's way. "What 'bout you,  _petit_? You been good dis year, too?" he teased, though he likely hadn't been expecting the earnest nod he got from her.

"I've been trying to be," she told him, and Remy straightened up a bit and looked her over before he pulled her into half of a one-armed hug.

"You been real good,  _petit_. Don' worry y'self." He leaned forward with a twinkle in his eyes as he added, "Word 'round de school is you been gettin' top marks in trainin'. You tinkin' you gon' join the team soon's you get a little older?"

"I really want to," she admitted.

"You an' your best friend Miss Leslie Ann gon' be a  _fine_ addition to the team when you get grown," Remy assured her with a smile. "But right now? It ain't de time for dwellin'. Pretty sure ol' Remy saw some pretty boxes under dat ol' Christmas tree wit your name on 'em."

Jana smiled right back and nodded. "Thanks."

"Anytime,  _petit_ ," he said, gently pushing her Leslie Ann's way so the two friends could get themselves some Swedish pancakes and cinnamon rolls. He knew better than most how hard it could be to feel accepted by a team you had betrayed, so he was glad to see that Jana at least had Leslie Ann to keep her on her feet.

The next people to arrive at the little morning soiree were Alex and Lorna — along with Erik. Lorna had an arm around her father and was watching him carefully, because it had been some time since she'd seen him. And while Erik's slowly declining health wasn't as obvious to those who saw him every day, it was obvious to  _her._

But the years seemed to melt away when he saw the small mob of kids, especially because they all ran over to wish him a Merry Christmas, and Magda went right over to hold up her hands to get snuggled from her grandfather. He didn't ever set her down as he filled up a plate for himself and Magda for breakfast.

Lorna watched her father with her daughter for a while with a thoughtful expression on her face before she startled a bit when Alex rested his chin on her shoulder and followed her gaze. "What're you thinking about?" he asked before he kissed her on the cheek.

"I was thinking… maybe it would be a good idea to move a little closer," she admitted quietly enough that only he — and K, who was graciously feigning deafness for their sake — could hear it.

Alex let out a breath. Lorna had been making the argument to settle down and be a little closer to family since Magda was born, and even he had to admit that it was hard to do all the traveling they used to do with a little one, but… "We've got a great place in Hawaii."

Lorna raised a single eyebrow at him as she turned to face him a little better — and the look on her face told him that she wasn't in the mood for his flimsy excuses that morning. "Look at her," she commanded, tilting her head toward Magda, who was just  _beaming_ with happiness as she told her grandfather about all the adventures she'd had since he last saw her.

"Yeah," he said with a bit of a sigh as all the arguments he could have made died at the sight of them.

"She should really get to spend as much time with him as she can," Lorna said, even more quietly than before, and with a bit of a tremor to her voice, and Alex turned with both eyebrows raised as he realized that Lorna was more worried over her father's health than she let on.

He wrapped her in a hug. "You know, Tyler and Hank both say he could have another decade or so left in him," he whispered. "He's a stubborn old man."

"Alex." She shook her head at him — but let the subject die when Chance came running up to her to present her with one of Leslie Ann's flowers.

He giggled when Lorna crouched down to be closer to him to take the flower and to wrap him up in a hug, and he tried to help her put it in her hair. "You have Christmas hair!" he declared with a wide grin.

"She does, doesn't she?" Alex agreed, laughing — and then laughing harder at the look Lorna shot him over the top of Chance's head.

"It's really pretty, Aunt Lorna," Chance assured her with a little shy smile before he kissed her cheek and then rushed off to go get another flower — since Kate and Kurt had arrived with Kari, and he was determined to get flowers for  _all_ the women in the house.

"Your kid's a charmer, Scott," Alex called out as his brother arrived with Cody close behind the Wagners.

"Which one?" Scott asked without missing a beat, though it was pretty obvious which one he was talking about when Chance was ordering Kate to crouch down so that he could give out his flowers.

Alex grinned and tipped his head Chance's way without saying anything else as the little boy tried to give a flower to Kari, but the pink elfling clearly wanted nothing to do with him or the flower as she batted him away until he was eventually forced to give up.

Kitty and Peter Quill came down to join the chaos a little while later, and Krissy glanced over her father and shared a little bit of a giggle with him before she went rushing over to hold up her arms for Kitty to pick her up and snuggled right in.

"Happy Ha-na-ka," Krissy said, carefully forming the words as she snuggled in and gave Kitty a very sweet little baby kiss, and Kitty positively melted into a warm hug.

"Merry Christmas, you adorable little elfling," Kitty said as she squeezed the little girl — and a moment later, there was a telltale  _bamf_ just behind her, and Kurt had wrapped both of the girls up in a warm hug as well.

"How goes the married space life?" Kate asked as she came over to join the little group, pulling Peter into a quick hug before she tipped Kari into his arms without bothering to ask if he wanted to hold her — because she could tell from the look on his face anyway that he really, really wanted to.

"Oh, you know. Same old," Kitty said with a shrug as Krissy squirmed to be let down so she could go back to playing with the other kids now that she had shown off her new word and given Kitty a hug. "Fighting Shi'ar, dealing with space baddies — about what you'd expect for a pair of newlyweds."

"Just the normal, everyday, boring stuff, then," Kate agreed, and Kitty simply laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, nothing as exciting as what you guy's've been up to. The way Kitty tells it, you've been, what, partying and having babies this whole time?" Peter teased as Kari regarded him carefully with the little glare that she reserved for people she wasn't sure about. But when she saw his wide grin, she seemed to settled out a bit and let him hold her — though now she had turned her little wary glare toward Kitty, because Kitty wasn't grinning and laughing anymore.

"Hey, we've been working hard," Kate said.

"I can see that," Peter said without even missing a beat, and Kitty looked like she might smack him upside the head except for the fact that Kurt still had her in half a hug and that would require moving out of the Elf snuggle.

"So step up  _your_ game," Kate replied just as quickly, which  _did_ get Kitty to smack her upside the head, though Kitty was half watching Peter, who wasn't even fazed. If anything, he was just shamelessly grinning.

"Don't need any help there, Hawkeye," he said with an easy shrug before he winked Kitty's way and tickled Kari to get her to giggle outright, leaving Kitty stuck between being very mad at him and melting over how adorable Kari was.

"You're doing this on purpose," she accused Kate, sticking her finger in Kate's face.

"Turnabout is fair play," Kate replied, returning the point with her free hand on her hip.

Kitty let out a huff and stalked over to where Logan was with James, though she really didn't have much room for argument at  _all_ when the first thing James did was half throw himself out of Logan's arms trying to say hi to Kitty, and she ended up with her arms full of a giggling little boy as K remarked that it was a "very good look on her."

"You two are never going to let up on her, are you?" Kurt whispered in Kate's ear as he watched Kitty play with James and try to sneak little glares at K or Kate when James wasn't paying attention — which was an impressive feat on its own when he was such an active little boy.

"All's fair in love and war," Kate said airily, which just got Kurt to chuckle deeper.

"And which is this?" he teased.

"Both," she replied. "She's fun, and I love her — but she fired the first shot in this war. She brought this on herself."

Kurt laughed and shook his head at her before he gently pulled her into a kiss that lasted until Kari started to fuss a bit and Peter looked a bit lost.

"How do you…?"

Kate pulled Kari out of his arms and wrapped her up a bit. "She's still tired. Don't take it personally," she promised Peter, who grinned and nodded before he headed off.

Jess and Gerry arrived a little after everyone was actually awake and the coffee was fresh once more after the first few pots had been downed quickly — and Gerry came bursting through the kitchen doors so excited to see all his friends for Christmas as Jess took a quick detour to put the presents in the living room under the tree.

"Merry Christmas, Aunt Katie!" he said, running to his favorite aunt first so she could pick him up and ruffle his hair.

"Phew, you're getting too big for me to do that," Kate teased him, and he looked so proud. He'd just had a growth spurt recently, and that much was obvious from the fact that his sleeves didn't quite cover his wrists as Jess just couldn't keep up with him fast enough.

"That's okay. You don't have super strongness like my mom," Gerry said, nodding happily as K set him up with some Christmas sweets. "Thank you!" he called out cheerfully her way before he started to dig in — while Jess made her way over to Logan to give him a hello hug as well.

They hadn't gotten through the long hug — where they were very clearly having a quiet chat — before Chance came up to Jess with flowers and a grin. "Merry Christmas," he told her almost shyly as he held out a very pretty little rose.

Jess crouched down to be at eye level and give Chance a little squeeze. "Merry Christmas to you too," she said. "Thank you; it's very pretty."

He giggled and blushed a little bit before he turned to run off and play again now that Gerry was there to cause trouble too.

"I blame his father," Logan muttered quietly to Jess.

"I dunno ... you've got his mother giving out sweet things to everyone at every chance she gets," Jess muttered back with a smirk.

"Fair point," he told her before he gave her a one-armed hug and led her to where the action was in the kitchen.

And meanwhile, Annie was helping to keep everyone well-supplied with Christmas morning sweets, chatting the entire time with her two sisters as all three women seemed to fall into deeper and deeper accents the longer they talked with each other.

"If you three go any further south, I'm gonna have to Irish up this coffee," K muttered their way, laying on a  _thick_ northern accent just to be a pain.

"Can't help it," Annie said with a bright smile. "Born and raised this way."

"And some of us still live there," Theresa added, grinning K's way.

"Pretty plain to hear," K replied with a smirk as she started up another pot of coffee.

"And proud of it," the blonde Hale sister teased without a second of hesitation as her little Aman made his way over to Kurt, as always, to say hello and tell him about how school was going.

"Well once breakfast is cleared, I'm just going to take that one little corner over there for my glogg — and back away slowly," K promised.

"Poor Yankees can't hack it when we come out in force," Theresa said with a teasing sparkle in her eyes.

"I'll go ahead and let you believe that while you still have a mouthful of my cinnamon rolls," K shot back with a little laugh.

The Hale girls all grinned her way before they got back to catching up with each other and trading stories about their kids — and of course taking turns gushing over little Cody, who was eating up the attention.

Scott and Anton were close by with Craig as the three men watched their wives get more and more Southern. Unlike Scott or Anton, Craig was  _not_ very tall and seemed to be dwarfed by his brothers-in-law, but he had spent most of his time there talking with Hank and Tyler about his job working for the WHO anyway.

But for the moment, it was Anton who was talking about his job. There had been a rash of petty thefts in the area recently, and it was driving the police nuts trying to figure out who was behind them. "Thought I'd ask you if it was one of your problems, Scott," Anton said. "This guy, whoever he is, just seems to waltz right through the most expensive security measures money can buy."

"I don't think so," Scott said. "But we can look into it. Maybe give us a call next time and we can send Remy over after the primary investigation is over — or Logan to look for a scent if it's really troublesome."

"Might just take you up on that," Anton agreed. He leaned back against the wall and shook his head. "Thankfully, it's just petty theft — no one's been hurt — so some of my superiors think it might be insurance fraud. You know, rich guys, nothing's been tripped, but there's a pattern here, and I ain't stupid enough not to see it. I just don't know what it is yet."

"Well, some time after the holidays, I'd be happy to take a look at it with you," Scott said. "Just to be sure."

"Thanks." Anton grinned broadly. "Who knows, might just find you your next student. Leslie Ann says that's half of your history — picking up troublemakers," he teased.

"Have you met our staff?" Scott said dryly. "Hardly any international incidents at all."

"Fair enough," Anton chuckled in response.

As breakfast was starting to wind down, the last of the guests finally arrived — with Clint and Natasha and little Zoe bringing Eleanor and Wade to pop in for a bit just to say hi.

"Great timing," Kurt said with a grin. "The ladies in the kitchen just said they're finishing up the last of breakfast now."

"Better hurry now or we won't get any," Clint said, matching Kurt's grin as he gently scooted Zoe forward, though she was determined to get there on her own steam and did  _not_ want anyone to pick her up or hurry her along as she carefully walked all the way to the kitchen.

"Look at who's walking so well," K called out to Clint and Zoe with a smirk. "Grab a seat and I'll bring you some breakfast."

Natasha was behind Clint and Zoe watching with a little smirk as she tipped her head K's way. "She wanted to be able to show off when we came today. No idea where she gets it."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about her," K teased as she stepped around the counter to give her a quick hug. "I was talking about Clint up and around. I heard he broke something."

"Which time?" Natasha replied dryly as Clint rolled his eyes at both of them.

"It was a hairline fracture and it's  _fine_ ," Clint said as Gerry popped over to come and hug his dad.

"Sure it is," K said, shaking her head. "Tyler will be around after he's done with his breakfast kisses."

"The doctors looked  _inside_ Dad," Gerry informed K. "Just like when I broke my arm!"

"That's so cool and so gross," K said with her nose wrinkled up.

"No, it's just cool," he promised her. "I'm gonna be a doctor too when I get big so I can do stuff like that!"

"That's a really good idea," K said with a nod.

"And he's smart enough to do it," Clint said as he kissed Gerry's forehead. "Did you tell K about what you and your mom did for Christmas?"

Gerry's eyes  _lit up_ as he leaned forward excitedly and bounced in place. "I wrote  _all_ the names on the presents  _by myself_!"

"You did  _not_ ," she said as she slid a plate to Natasha. "Who was the hardest?"

Gerry scrunched up his face as he thought it over. "Sying," he decided at last. "Or maybe Tasha. Tasha has lots of letters, but Sying is funny to write."

"Who's was easiest?" she asked with a smirk as she finished up the plate for Clint.

"Yours, silly! You only have  _one letter_!"

"Well, if you want to write my  _other_ name, there are a bunch of letters and a couple dots."

Gerry beamed and nodded excitedly. "Will you show me how later? I like writing letters!"

"You got it sweetie," she promised before she pushed a little plate his way. "You wanna take that over for your baby sister?"

Gerry nodded as he took the plate carefully and headed over to where Zoe was with Natasha, standing on his toes to push it onto the table properly. "Hi, Zoe. Merry Christmas!" he called out. Zoe gave him a little wave by clapping her fingers on her palm, but she stared at the plate with deep, deep suspicion.

" _Nyet_ ," Zoe said, very clearly, and wrinkled her nose at the plate.

"It's okay!" Gerry climbed up into the seat beside the two Romanoff women. "They're yummy!"

"These are  _brusnika_ , Zoe," Natasha explained as she swept a bit of the tiny berry-laden jam onto her finger and popped it in her mouth. "Mmm."

"See? Yummy!" Gerry nodded and tried to copy Natasha's movements. "Now you try."

Zoe watched Gerry for a little while before a little smirk spread over her features and she picked up a bit of the berries... only to shove it and three pudgy fingers into Gerry's mouth to feed him. "Mmmm," she said, still smirking.

"She's a troublemaker," Logan said over Nat's shoulder.

"She's a Barton," Natasha said with a proud sort of smile.

"Like I said," he countered before he gave her a little kiss on the temple.

"She's my sister," Gerry corrected them both as he tried to return the favor and picked up a dab to feed Zoe, but she shook her head at him and repeated the gesture of shoving jam in his face, clearly enjoying herself now.

Krissy had come over to see what all the giggling was about, and when she saw little Zoe feeding her big brother, she burst into laughter. "You're both silly," she told them as she pulled herself up a bit to steal some from Zoe's plate, but that got the little girl to point a finger at Krissy with her nose all scrunched up.

" _Nyet!_ " Zoe insisted, reaching out to pull her plate closer as she pointedly shoved a sticky berry into her mouth. "Mine." She chewed on it so Krissy could see her claim to the lingonberries before her eyebrows shot up — and she let out a delighted little giggle and kept happily munching away, now no longer sharing with Gerry either.

"Do you need more lingonberries,  _flicka_?" K asked as she brought the jar over to Natasha.

" _Da!_ " Zoe reached out both sticky berry-covered hands for more as Gerry and Krissy both dissolved into giggles, while K responded by scooping up a big spoonful and handing it to Zoe with a smirk.

"You spoil all of them," Natasha said with a little teasing smile.

"Do  _you_ need more lingonberries,  _flicka?_ " K said, this time to Natasha.

Natasha raised a single eyebrow and smirked. " _Da_."

K chuckled and gave Nat an even bigger spoonful. "Just because I play favorites."

Clint chuckled at the whole thing before he scooped Gerry up and set him on his hip as he ruffled the little guy's hair. "C'mon, Gerry. Looks like Tasha and your sister are all set. Thanks for helping 'em."

"Can I have extras too?" Wade asked from very very close over K's shoulder. She stopped and turned slowly to look at him — though he still hadn't moved.

"Do you remember the little talk we had about personal space?" K asked, and just that quickly, Wade took two very measured steps backward, though he was still holding his plate and clearly smiling at her.

"Now can I have extra?" he asked again, and she frowned when she realized that he'd eaten  _just_ the lingonberries off his plate.

"Sure …" she said as he took the jar and helped himself.

"This stuff is  _so much better_ than they say it is. And this brand … it's tastier than the one they have at IKEA. Why is that?" he asked, jabbering away as she looked up at him in surprise.

"I don't know," K replied slowly before she stepped around him and gave Logan a look that had him nodding.

"Wade, sit down before you get hurt," Logan suggested while Natasha gave James an extra taste of the red berries — since the little boy had been staring at Zoe while she cheerfully savored every little speck of the sticky, tart jam.

"Right, I guess to get the full effect of this Swedish stuff, you need a Swede," Wade said as he waved K's way. "That's you — my guide to  _Svenska mat_."

K looked openly taken aback. "Are you trying to learn Swedish?" she asked, a bit wide eyed.

" _Ja_ ," he said proudly as Eleanor rolled her eyes next to him.

"Don't pay any attention to him," Eleanor advised. "He's just … going through a phase. It'll stop sooner or later, I'm sure."

K gave the girl a little smile before she offered her more berries and gave her a little kiss on top of her head — then went back into the kitchen with the Hale sisters.


	3. Santa Stark

After the madness that was the huge group of family and friends at breakfast, there was the madness that was everyone opening presents as well. The Summers twins led the charge to the living room and the huge Christmas tree to start giving out presents, with Gerry helping to carefully read the tags and make sure Chance and Charlie were giving the presents to the right owners. They only had to get help on a few presents, because  _some people_  had horrible handwriting that Gerry could not read.

By the time it was nearly noon, all the kids were having a  _blast_ with their new toys, and the Hale sisters got things rolling for the traditional huge Christmas feast as well ... when there was a knock at the door.

"I've got it," K said as she slipped away from Logan and James. "Been a while since this happened." When she got to the door, she wasn't surprised in the least to see Santa Stark standing there with a broad grin in full Santa Claus gear — minus the beard, of course — with a massive number of crates with bows and a slightly embarrassed Pepper.

"He's … really proud of himself this year," she said with a tight smile.

"Is this an outside thing or an inside thing?" K asked as she held the door open for them.

"For all your little munchkins? Better keep it outside," Tony said, grinning widely as he all but bounded through the door.

"Great. You can help wrestle them into their coats," K said with a smile before she gave him a warm hug. "Good practice for you, and Merry Christmas to both of you."

Tony was so proud of himself that he let the comment sail by as he followed her to where the kids were all playing, though Pepper gave K a little look and a muttered, "Don't encourage him."

"I don't have to," K replied as she linked arms with Pepper to lead her deeper into the crowd. "He does that all on his own."

Of course, when the kids saw Santa Stark, there was a bit of a mob to go find out what exciting things he had in store for them — and to clamor for his attention to show off their presents.

"Look! My car is purple!"

"Yeah, but  _I_ got a real practice bow!"

"Look what Elin made me!"

The kids were all crowded around Tony and Pepper and clearly a little hyped up on sugar as K gave Tony a smirk now that he could see for himself what a wrestling match he was in for to try and get them outside.

Still, Tony gave them all a brilliant grin. "There's some  _really cool_ presents outside, guys," he promised them, which opened up the floodgates of excited babbling and giggling — and wrestling for their parents.

By the time everyone was ready to go outside, Tony's guys had brought everything but the kids' presents inside and had even been treated to some Christmas cookies from the Hale sisters. But finally, Tony swept an arm out to indicate the bow-wrapped presents and shared a little grin with Noh. "Want to open the crates?" he asked, to a chorus of excited nods.

With showmanship worthy of his reputation, Tony plucked Sying up and set the little boy on his hip. "You've been practicing flying your dad's spaceship, right?" he asked, and Sying beamed and nodded excitedly. "Well…" He gave a little nod to one of the guys, and the crate was levered open to reveal a miniature version of Noh's ship.

"Ta da!" Tony declared as all the kids let out excited squeals and clamored for a turn.

"There's one for everybody," Tony promised as he set Sying down so the little boy could admire his ship, which looked exactly like his dad's. "Custom-build. Got Noh-Varr here to help with the controls so they're the same intuitive ones in the real deal, so everybody's got their own steering…" He trailed off and beamed at the kids.

"You're something else, Tony," K said, shaking her head as Noh and Scott rushed forward to help the kids get started.

"Hey, when a kid tells you he's learning to fly a spaceship, you gotta run with it, sweetheart," he told her with a cheeky grin. "That car I built for Gerry was a prototype model here."

She gave him a genuine smile before she walked over to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "You're staying for dinner then, right?"

"How could I refuse?" he asked with a wide grin.

"Good. Because I have something I think you'll appreciate."

Tony chuckled. "Careful now. I'm a married man," he teased.

"Don't I know it … but I think she'll appreciate it too," K shot right back.

While the kids played with Tony, Noh, and Scott with the mini spaceships, most of the rest of the adults slipped inside, though Peter was joyfully snapping photos of the kids as they tested out their newest flight training.

K slipped into the kitchen, where the Hale girls had left the spot she'd requested open, but every other inch of counter space was otherwise occupied with their preparations. She set up a rather large copper pot that had a little flame under it as she started pulling out bottles and grabbing a few spices from the rack.

She was partially through pouring the third bottle of red wine into the copper pot when one of the sisters had to ask what exactly she was doing. " _Glögg_ ," K replied as she cracked open a bottle of vodka and started to pour that in too. "Traditional Swedish Christmas drink." When she was done, the fumes were pretty thick already, but she started putting spices in too: orange peel and cinnamon sticks, cloves … a tiny bit of sugar... "It'll be ready around dinner time."

"You are going to put people on the floor with this," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Hey, there is no reason not to try new things. Besides, the fire probably burns some of the alcohol off." K shrugged a bit her way. "It's good. Like mulled wine with a little more Viking to it."

"Logan  _did_ tell me you were old. But Dark Ages?" Theresa asked with a teasing smile.

"Well, not quite," K said. "But it's my father's recipe. So. Maybe." She returned the smile Theresa's way. "Of course, maybe this is what keeps me looking so young."

Theresa tipped her head to the side before she broke into a smile. "I'll bite. Save me some for later to stave off the wrinkles," she laughed.

"There's almost three gallons of it — unless Logan, Wade, and I get into a drinking contest, there will be plenty." K shook her head and stepped back. "I'm going to guess asking if you three need help would be an insult of the highest order, so …"

"You'd be guessing correctly," Annie said with a smirk before she waved with the tips of her fingers. "See you at dinner."

"Have fun, girls," K said with a smile before she very nearly  _bounced_ out of the kitchen.

Dinner that evening was, of course, a huge event. The Hale sisters always went all out, and with a large crowd to feed, everything looked  _delicious_. The adults spent the whole evening congratulating them on outdoing themselves once again — but the kids spent the whole evening  _gushing_ to Santa Stark about their spaceships.

Most all of the adults had gotten a cup of K's glögg, and no one could argue that it was very good — but it was also pretty potent stuff, and even those that had only taken one mug were already feeling pretty darn good. K had just returned with refilled mugs for her and Logan as they sat back and just … watched.

"Your bestie's a little wasted," K said to him with a smirk, to which Logan simply laughed.

"So's your little sparkle pants or whatever the hell you're callin' him today," he replied.

Further down the table, Kate was giggling as a very snuggly Kurt rested his head on her shoulder, but she wasn't giggling nearly as loudly as Jubilee was as her own husband had started to fall into a bit of dizziness.

"Come on, Noh — this is a drink for  _warriors_ ," K called out to him.

He was grinning crookedly as he pushed a mug her way to refill. "Clearly it is a test to defeat gravity itself," he said, definitely a little unsteady.

"Just a gift from the gods to make sure we know they love us," she countered as she topped him off with a fresh mug.

He beamed at her, and Jubilee giggled even more, knowing what was coming as he swayed a little bit and held onto her to stay upright.

"How are you doing, Tony? Need a topper on that mug?" K asked.

"You trying to get me drunk and take advantage?" he called back.

"Absolutely," she teased. "For Pepper's sake."

He laughed outright and kissed Pepper's cheek as even she seemed to be feeling pretty good and had a light red blush. "Hear that, honey? She's dangerous. I don't think I should accept any drinks from her."

"Well, if you're not going to,  _I am_ ," Pepper said, extending her arm with the mug in it. "It's been a long week."

K grinned at her and topped her off. "This stuff has been taking the edge off since the 1100's. Enjoy."

Tony stared at Pepper as a very, very wide grin started to spread over his face. "Oh, I'm enjoying it," he said, and Pepper blushed a bit deeper and smiled at him over the edge of her mug as she took another sip.

At the head of the table, the Hale family was getting into even deeper Southern than before, which seemed to shock those around them as they simply couldn't understand them for long intervals, though they were also clearly having a good time as they traded stories and listened to Annie's dad regale them with old wartime tales that seemed to get more ridiculous as time passed. If anything, the women in the family were outdrinking the men — a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the few adults who either didn't drink or weren't as affected by it, all of whom were watching and growing steadily more amused.

K and Logan were properly snuggled up with each other and chuckling to themselves at the entire scene, though seeing as they were both drinking at a fairly good clip, even they had a nice little buzz going on.

Wade was on the floor with all of the kids as they were wrestling and playing and generally having a good time — though he popped his head up when he noticed that Charlie had a sort of concerned look on her face and stopped pretending to be 'dead' from when Sying had 'defeated' him with Krissy's help. "Hey, what's up, teeny Summers?" he asked, and Charlie stuck her lower lip out and inclined her head toward where Jubilee was gigglingly trying to set Noh down on the couch after he had clearly lost his battle with K's glögg.

"He's not feeling good," Charlie said with a frown as she watched Noh lean back with a groan and mutter out to Jubilee that he "regretted the decision to trust that warriors' challenge."

Jubilee was giggling madly. "It wasn't a challenge, you goon. You just took it that way."

"Yes, well, I have properly learned my lesson," Noh groaned.

Charlie watched the interaction for a while nodded to herself at last. "Inna help him," she told Wade, patting his head. "You play," she instructed him before she all but skipped off to go upstairs, returning a few minutes later with her favorite blanket and a stuffed bamf doll.

Noh had his eyes closed and was clearly trying to remain very, very still, though he couldn't help but sway a bit even in his seat after he'd stood up for just a moment and very quickly regretted it.

Charlie very carefully tucked the doll into his arms and covered him with her blanket as best she could, patting his arm. "It's okay," she promised him. "You can watch movies all day when you're sick."

Jubilee was grinning through the whole interaction — and was only grinning even wider when Krissy came toddling over with a full water bottle, which she set down on the floor beside the couch. "Mama says you needs lots and lots of water."

At that, Logan and K burst out laughing, tears running down their faces, and Kurt didn't look to be too far behind them.

"I've trained her well," Kate whispered to the three of them, half propping up Kurt.

The two ferals were a wreck, strictly speaking, as they kept laughing and trying to hold it back — and failing. "I think the Hale girls need another cup," K said. "How are you two troublemakers holding out?"

"That sounds like a marvelous idea," Kurt said with a wild and wicked grin as Kate fell into giggles again.

"Ooh, yes. Please liquor up my Elf."

"That's the plan," K admitted. "We really shouldn't let any of this stuff go to waste, right, sweetheart?" Logan just nodded, and both men handed over their mugs for K to top off yet again. "They're both getting wasted tonight, Chicken Hawk."

"Hey, what did  _I_ do to get that name tonight?" Kate complained.

"Nothing really; you're just close enough to Clint that I don't want to confuse the two of you," K said sweetly.

At that, Clint beamed and reached around Kate to offer his mug for K to top off. "It ain't hard. One of us is taller."

"Yeah, but if I call out Hawkeye, both of you have your heads pop up. If I call out Chicken Hawk, she glares and you laugh. It's a system," K told him as she took his mug too.

"Whatcha call me if you want me specifically?"

"'Other hubby;' I thought that was established," she replied as she handed him his mug back. "Or Sweet Clint."

"I like it. First time I get the better end of the names shtick with this one," Clint said, tipping his head at Kate. "Last time, it was 'don't like Clint-Hawkeye'."

"We could go back to 'Little Hawk' for her, since she's shorter and younger," K supplied as she sat back with Logan's arm around her shoulders.

"How 'bout we don't do any of those things and you just call me Kate or Hawkeye," she grumbled into her mug.

"Mrs. Elf."

" _That_ one I will accept."

"Mrs. Elf, Tamer of the Nightcrawler."

"Yes, this is my full title," Kate said, grinning as she leaned over to kiss Kurt, who did his level best to look the part as he nuzzled into her.

"With an obvious thing for highly flexible gymnasts; we'll hold our conclusions," K continued. "But note that the chandeliers need help suddenly."

"No idea how that happened," Kurt said without looking K's way as he continued to play the part of tamed Nightcrawler and nuzzled in deeper.

Before the conversation got too far gone, K enlisted Kate's help to make the rounds with her, refilling the Hale's mugs without asking if they needed it. "Something about hitting a whole family at once is satisfying," K muttered to Kate. "And I think Annie's dad likes it."

"I think he's just enjoying watching his girls outdrink them all," Kate whispered back.

"It's adorable," K said. "Makes me sad that I can't honestly participate in that contest."

Kate chuckled and shook her head at K. "I think you're just trying to get everyone drunk so you can have more minions in the kitchen," she teased.

"Yes. Yes that's exactly it, so top off and go assault your Elf," K said without missing a beat.

"I think I will," Kate replied just as quickly before she headed off to go snag herself a super snuggly Nightcrawler.

"How you doin' Annie? Girls?" K asked, addressing the girls since the men were further gone... Scott was positively red-faced and laughing harder than she'd seen him do before.

"Oh, just fine an' dandy," Annie assured K as she had a good hold of her husband and was giggling madly every time he fell into another fit of laughter.

"Gonna make one more round with the glogg," K said. "Don't want to see it go to waste, and there is honestly more there than Logan and I can finish alone."

"We'll put it 'way for ya'," Theresa assured her with a crooked smile as her own husband was almost asleep on her shoulder.

"Well, you're taking your time," K said, shaking her head. "We're up by six to your three."

"Keep gettin' distracted," Rachel said, tipping her head at her father, who was apparently having a 'dangerous stories' contest with Anton.

"You ain't never had to deal with what happens after the supervillains make a pass, Dad," Anton was insisting.

"Yeah, they sound like some good ones," K said to the girls.

"Saw Jubes takin' her young thing off — he really can't hold a thing, poor dear," Annie laughed. "You're horrible to 'im, really."

"I'm wonderful and you know it," K replied. "I get him out of far more trouble than I get him into."

"That's true," Annie had to admit. "That's true for most of us 'round here, actually — and we love ya' for it."

"You're getting sentimental, Annie. I think I may have to cut you off," K warned as she wrapped her fingers around Annie's mug.

Annie beamed at K for a moment. "And here I thought you been sayin' I'm made of sugar an' spice an' everythin' nice. Sentimental seems like it'd be part of the deal."

"It really is," she agreed before she paused and tipped her head Annie's way. "One last round, or are you ready to take that poor boy upstairs and take advantage?"

Annie's older sisters both laughed outright at the look K's comment got from their parents — and laughed even harder when Scott just  _beamed_ at Annie and the look got even worse.

"What about you two?" K directed to the other girls. "You're about to the same point, I think."

"Anton holds it better'n Craig," Theresa giggled, indicating her nearly-asleep husband.

"Then Anton needs another round," K decided as she topped off his mug and he half chuckled at her. "Particularly since I already took everyone's keys — and no one is going anywhere."

"An' I noticed you already got Wade an' those two blonde rays of sunshine watchin' the kids. Don't think I ain't payin' attention," Annie pointed out.

"I'm glad to see you're on top of things," she agreed. "Though no one noticed when I  _took_ their keys. You're slippin' Annie."

Annie grinned over at K with a hint of trouble in her eyes. "Wasn't me holdin' the keys tonight."

"I know — but he didn't notice either, did you Scotty?" K challenged.

"Guess I didn't," Scott said with an easy shrug and a grin, not even looking her way when his focus was on Annie. "Must not have felt it."

"Sure I shouldn't be investigatin'  _you_ for the rash of petty crime 'round here?" Anton laughed, shaking his head at her.

"You can," K said with a shrug. "But I think my criminal record is already pretty damn public already."

Anton chuckled as Douglas started to let out a booming laugh. "Yeah, I read the book," he said as much to Anton as to K. "She could give you a run for your money, son."

"I could give anyone a run for their money," K corrected him before she wished them a Merry Christmas and slipped back over to Logan to watch the rest of the adults start to split off — especially the couples — and to smirk at the bamfs' attempts to help them finish off the glögg; several of them were in similar states to Noh.

By the time the ferals were ready to head up, it was pretty clear that the buzz on them had deepened, and both were grinning at each other when they weren't simply kissing. "G'nite," K muttered to Kate before the two of them picked up their little ones and started toward the stairs, both of them looking totally relaxed as K had James on one shoulder and Logan had Elin passed out on his shoulder. "Sorry we didn't get far enough for singing."

"It was a valiant effort," Kate said as she and Kurt were making their way upstairs as well to the room next to theirs. "Maybe next time," she added with a little impish grin before Kurt decided he'd had enough of walking and teleported them the remaining 50 feet into their room for the night.


	4. Logan Started It

It took a few days to recover from the party that had been Christmas that year, though when New Year's Eve came around, they still had an entire day of partying planned for the occasion. After all, the twins were turning four, which was a big deal in itself, they insisted — and Kate was turning thirty.

Which meant her friends had gone a little overboard with the party planning.

They weren't holding it at the mansion, either, because they didn't want her to see what they were up to. So when she did arrive at the old Bishop Publishing building that Kate had made the hideout for herself and her friends when they were Young Avengers, Kate almost groaned out loud when she saw that there were black balloons and a big old sign that said "Over the hill."

"I hate you all," Kate grumbled good-naturedly as all of her former teammates were sure to give her gag gifts — reading glasses, hair dye, the works. Though it was when a very cheeky Kurt showed up with a cane that matched the one she had given him for his fiftieth that she broke into honest-to-goodness laughter.

"Who brought the walker?" K asked with a badly-concealed smirk. "That's cruel."

"That would be my wife," Clint said, grinning wide as Natasha's expression didn't betray a thing.

"You guys are all hilarious," Kate said, rolling her eyes as she made it a point to shoot a glare Natasha's way — which didn't work very well when Natasha was holding Zoe and the little girl seemed to take it as a challenge to shoot her just as much of a glare.

K and Logan both made their way to the birthday girl to put her in the middle of a crushing hug. "We didn't do anything cruel," Logan told her.

Kate had to smile at that and kissed his cheek. "Yeah, I know. Dinosaurs." She squirmed a bit so she could better hug them instead of being crushed. "Don't know why I put up with these idiots."

"It's because you love us!" America called out in a sing-song tone.

"Birds of a feather," K said quietly. "You know... since you'd do the same to them."

"This is entirely true," Kate had to agree. "Because I love them," she added, glancing America's way to stick out her tongue at her friend.

"So, we couldn't wrap up your gift … because it's not wrappable," K told her quietly.

"I swear, if you got me a lifetime ticket to a retirement home or something, I will take back anything nice I said about you," Kate teased.

"Nothin' like that," Logan swore. "You know how JJ was pushing for interviews for a follow-up?"

"Oh, you really don't have to — I know you two don't like — no, really, that's okay," she said, completely flustered.

"We're not," he said with a shake of his head. "Maverick is."

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him for a moment. "...What?"

"Maverick. He's gonna sit down with him. Cashed in an old favor."

A little chuckle started up as Kate shook her head. "He is going to eat JJ alive," she said delightedly. "I should sell  _tickets_. Pete would buy them  _all_."

"Well. He's going to need to do a lot before we'll talk to him," Logan said. "But there are plenty of other guys we can send to him in the meantime."

"You guys…" Kate shook her head and wrapped them both up in a hug. "You really don't have to do things like this. You're just too sweet."

"Hey. We gotta do something for your birthday," K told her. "Not like you NEED anything."

Kate had to chuckle at that. "That's true. I got my Elf, I got my girls, I got my hug magnet and his co-conspirator... I'm pretty much set."

K smirked. "So the best I can do is just … help you irritate the crap out of JJ."

"Best birthday present ever," Kate agreed with a wide, beaming smile before Tommy arrived to break up the little hug fest and pull her over to her cake so she could attempt to blow out all the candles — trick candles, of course, just so everyone could joke about her lack of stamina now that she was older.

Of course, the highlight of the party was when Gerry climbed up into Kate's lap while they were eating cake and ice cream to gently pat her on the head and promise it was okay to get older. "I was really nervous about turning five soon, but Daddy says Kindergarten isn't scary," he told her very earnestly as Clint tried very hard not to give away how hard it was not to laugh. "He says just cuz you get bigger and have to try new things doesn't mean it's scary — it's  _exciting_."

"That's true," Kate started to say, but Gerry wasn't quite finished.

He leaned forward and cupped a hand over his mouth so he could whisper in her ear. "But he also got me a bow now that I'm older, so I think being bigger just means I can  _do_ things."

Kate laughed and hugged the little blonde boy close at that and ruffled his hair. "You're a smart little boy," she said. "You must get that from your mom." She tossed Clint a look over Gerry's shoulder and stuck out her tongue, though she laughed harder at Gerry's response.

"That's what Daddy says."

Jess was smirking as she scooped little Gerry up out of Kate's lap and gave Kate a little wink. "Don't worry about it. You're not  _that_ old," she whispered with a smile before she bounced Gerry along to go play with his friends.

The party, of course, continued until midnight — though the kids had all been put to bed long before that rolled around. And when it came time, the group of assembled heroes and friends rang in the new year with optimistic predictions about the one ahead — and a whole lot of Kate's good wine.

As they watched the fireworks, Kate and Kurt sat out on the roof of the building, and she leaned into his side as he gently kissed her just behind her ear. " _Alles Gute zum Geburtstag_ ," he told her warmly. "You're as beautiful now as the day I met you."

She grinned and turned her head to kiss him properly for a good long moment. "And a happy new year," she said with a little grin. "Got a good one ahead of us, I think — starting it off right, anyway, with Zoe's birthday and a wedding."

"Yes, it's a shame every year can't start this way."

"You'll run out of friends to marry off at that rate," she teased him. "I think you have an addiction."

"That's why I keep making new friends," he replied with a grin.

"Good point." She leaned back and laughed at him before she tipped her head to steal another kiss.

* * *

The next few weeks were filled with wedding preparations for Tyler and Tammy's big day as not only the senior X-Men but the junior X-Men were getting in on all the excitement. Leslie Ann had some beautiful, pure white roses in bloom in the garden, and Brye promised that she had a special surprise planned for when the evening turned to night and the stars came out.

On the morning of the wedding, Tyler and Tammy woke up early to go to the temple in Manhattan for the official church sealing ceremony. It was nothing extravagant; they simply went into the temple in pure white to kneel across the altar as the sealer married them for "time and all eternity" before they shared a very sweet kiss.

But before they left the temple, the workers there were sure to help both of them change into their fancier clothes for the party back in Westchester, and a few of the older women were tickled pink to help Tammy lace up the back of her dress before they sent her off to meet Tyler in the entrance of the temple. They walked out arm in arm to where Hank and Daisy already waiting for them, opting to give them the privacy of that first look together and just meet them outside.

From there, though, they drove back to Westchester for the far bigger party, where the entirety of the X-Men and several Avengers were waiting for them. They'd asked Elin to be the flower girl, and she absolutely made sure that both of them got kisses before she started down the aisle ahead of Tammy, because that was clearly the most important thing.

When she reached the end of the aisle though, she all but threw herself into her father's arms because she  _knew_ she did a good job and was ready to be out of the spotlight.

Which was the complete opposite of the ring bearer. There really wasn't any question that it had to be Gerry, who was simply  _over the moon_ about getting to be part of Tyler's wedding and kept grinning at everyone in every single aisle he passed and pointing at Tyler and giggling madly. He was threatening to steal the show, though it was hard to do that when Tyler and Tammy were doing their best attempt to look like they were glowing.

Tammy's father, a cute grey-haired older man who had raised her and her big sister on his own, walked her down the aisle, of course, though it was entertaining to the group at large to watch the man who was only barely as tall as his daughter craning up to look Tyler in the face to welcome him to the family briefly before handing Tammy off, while her big sister positively beamed the entire time.

Since the two of them had already officially been married, there was no "speak now or forever hold your peace" involved, since, well, they were already husband and wife. This was just about putting on a show and letting everyone else be part of the fun. Though the bamfs looked a little disappointed that they didn't get to intimidate the group at large at that part like they liked to do.

It was just a simple little ceremony, no vows or anything, since they had already been sealed in the temple… but no one in attendance missed that Kurt introduced them to the crowd once the rings were exchanged as "Tyler and Tamara McCoy."

At the different name, most of the X-Men in attendance all shared a look with each other, but Logan just clapped a hand on Hank's shoulder with a little smirk as the two shared a nod. The group at large just grinned, since clearly, Tyler was no Creed.

The two grinning blondes exchanged rings as Leslie Ann was literally blooming white roses over their heads on the arch, and Storm tipped her head skyward to bring down a light dusting of snow to complete the winter wonderland picture when the two shared a kiss and Kurt presented them both to the group, who all had to chuckle when Tammy's feet were clearly off the ground to reach Tyler to kiss him, though the train was long enough to cover it.

After that, it was just a matter of heading back inside to the warmth to dance the night away — away from the snow. Tammy and her cute little father were actually very good dancers, but it was Daisy  _beaming_ as Tyler swept her around the ballroom that really took everyone's breath away.

When it came time for Tammy to toss the bouquet, it was Sophia who caught it — and looked completely surprised as she had been teasingly trying to push Leslie Ann into the path of the bouquet when it hit her on the shoulder. But then Brye broke into a delighted laugh and pulled Sophia into a long and involved kiss that had Tyler whistling when it kept going.

But when Tyler knelt down in front of Tammy for the garter toss, the newest groom couldn't help but get in on the teasing that he was now allowed to do, and Miles called out, "If I had to use my teeth, you have to too!"

"My teeth are a little bit sharper than yours," Tyler called back.

"Perfect for fine lace and careful extraction," Clint said with a smirk.

"True story," K called along with them — just to make it worse. Tyler covered his face with one hand as he tried not to laugh.

"Just don't tickle me," Tammy told him with a crooked grin, "and we'll be  _fine_." Tyler matched her crooked grin, but when he slipped under her train for the garter, Tammy  _laughed_ so loud it startled the kids playing with Kamala. And when Tyler emerged with the fine garter in his teeth grinning ear to ear, she smacked him in the arm. "You did that on purpose."

He grinned wider at her but didn't answer her either way except to chuckle before he launched the garter at the group of bachelors behind him, and Remy ended up catching it and stashing it in his pocket before Peter could get a picture of him with it. No one figured out where it went after that.

As everyone else was dancing or partying or chatting with each other, Kamala had somehow found herself in the middle of every single one of the kids under age ten. She had Zoe and James on either knee, and the older kids were trying to help her teach them how to say her name, repeating it over and over again.

Every time Charlie tried to explain it, James would shake his head at her with a tiny frown, which got a giggle out of Zoe.

"Ka-ma-la," Charlie said again, very slowly, putting emphasis on every single syllable.

"No," James said before he leaned on Kamala and snuggled in.

" _Nyet_ ," Zoe agreed, giggling madly.

Charlie looked very frustrated for a moment as she looked to the others for help, and of course, Sying was always up to offer his help. "Ka-ma-la," he said clearly, though he had come prepared with little sweets — chocolate chips to try to bribe the kids, since that had worked for him in the past getting Krissy or Elin to play with him.

"No," James insisted, pushing his hand holding the sweets away. " _Nej, nyet, nein, iie_."

Zoe considered the chocolate chips, however, and a slow smirk spread over her face as she held out her hand for the bribes. "Ka-ma-lalala," she said clearly, and when Sying gave her the chocolate chips, she started to throw them at James and Charlie.

"Ka-ma-lalalalala," James sang out with a little giggle as Kamala tried  _not_ to laugh at the look of pure trouble on his face.

Zoe looked him over as the smirk got wider and wider. "Ka-ma-lalalalalala," she sang.

James started belly laughing at Zoe, and when he started up with the contest of 'lala's, she joined in, and the two of them kept getting louder and faster as they tried to out-la-la each other, laughing the whole way through.

Charlie was glowering a little bit with her arms crossed and her lip poked out, but Kamala was laughing hysterically along with the kids, and with a 'grown-up' laughing along, there was clearly nothing Charlie could do about it, so she just rolled her eyes and stalked off to go play with Krissy.

Kamala, on the other hand, pulled both of the little ones into a warm hug. "Yes, that's my name, you  _adorable_ little angels."

The two of them were pretty well giggled out by then, and James was still grinning when she lightened up the hug a bit, so he leaned up and gave her a sloppy baby kiss on the cheek before he snuggled in a little bit better.

"Yeah, okay, that's it, I'm keeping you both," Kamala informed them as she snuggled in with both of them as Zoe booped her on the nose and tried to wink at James by blinking both of her eyes shut hard.

James grinned back at her and raised one eyebrow for a moment, though he was clearly getting tired from all the excitement and all the people coming and going.

"How long do you think that's going to carry on before you guys get one of your own?" Logan said very quietly over Miles' shoulder.

Miles jumped a bit and spun around to face him with wide eyes. "Oh. Oh no. Oh — oh no. We — we have been married for all of, like, three months. Do not — no."

"Longer'n Kurt and Kate was," he said with a perfect poker face.

"Yeah, but ... there were a couple years before that and … no. No. I'm not really — no."

"Mmhmm," Logan said. "We'll see how long that works out for you."

Miles shook his head a couple times and then glanced at Kamala, who was still snuggled in with the babies. "Uh… I'm just…"

"Just so you know, it's not the time you've been together," Logan said as he started to walk away. "If you're confused on how that happens, I can have Remy and Clint draw you a picture."

"Don't — don't do that," Miles said, holding up both hands. "I already know."

"Yeah? Seems like you were under the delusion that you got a few years before it's a concern. Gumbo is right over there … he likes to help."

"I….. I am going to go walk over there. I don't have an excuse. I'm just going over that way. Away from you."

"Hey Clint!" Logan called out. "Miles needs you to draw a picture for him."

"KAMALA!" Miles all but ran over to where his new wife was, puffing slightly when he got there, and when she and the two little ones looked at him sideways, he tried to play it off. "Ummmm. Do you need any help?"

"No, Pidey," James said, shaking his head.

"That's okay. I'll just… hey, Kari's had enough tummy time. Do you want—"

"What's up, Spidey?" Clint called out over Miles shoulder as the younger Spiderman nearly jumped out of his skin. "What do you need help with so bad?" He was grinning wide with an expression that clearly told Miles he knew  _exactly_ what was going on.

"No! No help needed here. Nope. None. Wolverine is delusional. I am  _fine_. I'm just playing with some kids over here."

"I dunno," Clint said. "If drawings aren't your thing, I'm pretty sure ol' Remy has a video or two. Likely not meant for the school age crowd, but still."

"He-e-e-e-e-ey Kari!" Miles scooped up the little pink elfling and started to tickle her. "You need to play with someone, right?"

"Practicing already?" Peter asked with a grin, clearly having been recruited by Logan at some point. "That's great!"

"I… don't know how to get out of this," Miles said, looking to Kamala with wide eyes. "Help?"

"I don't know what to tell you, Miles. They don't do this to  _me_ ," Kamala said, shaking her head. "What did you do?"

"What did  _I_ ….?  _I didn't do anything_!"

"And that right there is your problem, kiddo," Clint chuckled as he draped an arm over Miles' shoulders. "It's okay. I can still draw that picture if you need it."

Miles was staring at him open-mouthed when K and Natasha came over to pick up the sleepy little ones. They each picked up their baby and thanked Kamala, and when they turned back to Clint and Peter, K gave them both a look before she used a tone that Miles had not heard. "Scatter. And stop it. He is like four years old himself."

"Not too much younger than Katie was when she got started." Clint grinned at K for a moment before both of the looks he was getting from the ladies got him to straighten up and clear his throat. "Alright ... we'll wait til he's four and a half."

"Logan started it," Peter said quickly.

"And you just do what he says?" K asked, shaking her head. "I'll deal with him."

Sensing that their fun was no longer going to be tolerated, Clint and Peter shared a look before they headed off to find someone else to mess with, and Miles let out a long sigh of relief. "You gotta teach me how to do that," he said.

"It helps if you don't say things like 'eep' and run away," K pointed out. "And .. don't engage them when they're picking."

"Especially when they are picking  _together_ ," Natasha advised.

"Yeah, leave that kind of heat for the experts," K agreed.

Miles nodded slowly and then grinned Natasha's way. "Got it. Next time hide behind Mama Spider."

"That is  _not_ what I said," Natasha replied with a little smirk.

"Let's see ... don't engage them and leave it to the experts? Yeah. That's what you said." Miles grinned at both of them. "And I'm taking it to heart!"

Natasha rolled her eyes at him, but Zoe lifted her head and shook her finger at Miles. "No, 'Pidey," she said, and Natasha smirked and gave her a kiss.

"Or .. you can just get with it and they'll stop then too," K said. "Just in case your first plan backfires on you spectacularly. You wouldn't want Nat and I to  _join_ Logan and Clint in the picking, would you?"

"I… am seeing that now, yeah," Miles said in a  _very_ small voice. "I'm just going to… I'm going to sit here and play with Kari and Cody now and be very very quiet."

The two women shared smirks at that and headed off with their little ones to go find their respective husbands — and only get on their case a little about teasing Miles.

Though Miles had to roll his eyes a bit when he saw what the two of them getting 'talked to' looked like. Natasha was smirking and very clearly muttering something low that had Clint grinning wider before he redirected his picking on Tony. And Logan, who was holding Elin, didn't seem to get into any trouble at  _all_ as K just started kissing him to Elin's giggles before the little group of ferals disappeared.

When it got a bit darker outside, it was time to send off the new couple. Brye unveiled her surprise for them: she'd arranged a little line of fireflies that she had been keeping in Leslie Ann's greenhouse to light the way all the way to the getaway car, the natural lights shining over the fresh snow all the way down to the limo Kate had hired to take them down to her private plane and fly them to the beach house for a quiet beach honeymoon.


	5. Cupcake Kisses

Annie had made her amazing Valentine's Day cupcakes again that year, so of course all of the kids knew that they were going to get sugared up. The smell of chocolate and cinnamon could be found through the entire mansion, and it was resting heavily in the kitchen in particular, where Kate and Kurt had brought the little kids in to get their sweets — along with K and James.

They waited until Annie had finished with her tall buttercream icing and had everything all put out on plates before they got their own cupcakes, beaming with happiness as they got red and pink icing all over their fingers and faces.

Elin was kicking her feet over the edge of her chair and half singing to herself as Krissy dove into her cupcake nearby, her tail swaying slowly behind her as she grinned and relished her frosting.

Chance didn't eat his cupcake or touch his icing, though, as he climbed up to the little pig-tailed Howlett girl and slid his cupcake over to her with a shy sort of grin. "Happy Valentines," he said with a little nervous laugh.

She looked from him to the cupcake and tipped her head to the side a bit before she swiped one finger into the frosting to taste, and then — having misinterpreted so much from watching her parents in recent months with cupcakes — she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Happy Valentine," she replied before she gave him a big smile and picked up her granola cookie to hand to him.

Chance was brilliantly red and grinning as he took the cookie and started to giggle as Annie and Scott shared a look over the adorable kids' heads. Annie was barely containing herself to keep from laughing, and Scott looked like he couldn't decide whether to say something or just… enjoy the cute giggles from both Chance and Elin.

K on the other hand was doing her best to act as if she hadn't seen a thing as she settled James in with some sweets of his own.

"He your Valentine," Krissy told her best friend happily.

"Okay," Elin said, still kicking her feet and half singing to herself.

"Papa says today is about wu-u-u-v," Krissy sang out as Kate couldn't contain herself and buried her face in Kurt's shoulder to keep from letting the kids see her dying of laughter — though he wasn't far behind her.

Elin turned Krissy's way and watched her for a moment. "Give kisses out," she said with a shrug.

"You gotta  _wuv_ when you kiss!" Krissy insisted.

"Okay," Elin replied, still half singing and twisting her shoulders as she played.

"They've been  _watching,_ " Kate giggled into Kurt's shoulder. "And paying attention. The icing. K. The icing." She was half beside herself giggling over the whole thing.

"She's a smart girl," K replied with a little shrug.

"It's adorable," Annie said with a wide smile. "He's such a flirt — I'm sorry."

"For what?" K asked. "They're just being sweet."

"Sweet and silly!" Sying sang out happily as he licked some of the icing off of his fingers.

"Speaking of which," Kurt said with a little smirk, pointing with his tail toward the window at the car driving up the driveway as Tyler and Tammy arrived from their honeymoon.

"Are they coming home early?" K asked as she glanced up at Kurt.

"We offered them the beach house for as long as they wanted to use it — there was no timeline," Kurt said with a bit of a shrug.

"The pilot just stayed on call until they needed him," Kate added. "But you know how Ty is about missing too much school. Little genius that he is."

"That or he wanted a cupcake," K muttered quietly. "And all that goes with it."

"Kisses!" Krissy agreed with a high-pitched giggle as she gave Elin a bit of a smirk.

"Cupcake kisses," Elin said with a nod.

At that, Chance scooted over to Elin again and grinned her way as Scott looked like he couldn't even believe what was happening. The little boy picked up the cupcake and ran a finger through some of the icing left to boop some on Elin's nose and started to giggle. "Cupcake kisses?" he asked.

She giggled and nodded and kissed him again as Kurt chuckled at the whole thing. "It's a good thing Logan is on rotation with the Avengers with Brye," he laughed.

"He's got nothing to complain about," K said with a wave. "Right, kids?"

"Right!" Chance called out happily. "It's Valentine's Day!"

"And what is Valentine's good for?" K asked.

"It's for cupcakes and for chocolate and flowers and kisses!" he listed off happily.

"That's right, sweetheart," K laughed before she looked up at Scott. "He gets it. This is good."

"He's a smart kid; he picks things up from watching the team," Scott said, shaking his head.

"What do you think, Chance? Does your dad need a cupcake kiss?" K asked.

"Everybody needs cupcake kisses," Chance said, nodding seriously, and Annie broke into a genuine laugh at that.

"Yes, I think you're very right, sweetie," Annie said, taking a glob of icing from her own baking to smear it across Scott's face before he could react and then grab him by his shirt to kiss him  _hard_.

"I see Valentine's Day is going well for everyone," Tyler said with a dry smirk as he and Tammy came through the doors, still snuggled up with each other and suntanned.

"As always," Annie replied with a little giggle, still smiling up at Scott.

"You two are back early. You get  _done_?" Kate giggled.

"Real cute," Tammy said, shaking her head as she stuck her tongue out at Kate.

"Did you expect them to that fast?" K asked with a laugh. "You two still aren't done."

"That's entirely true," Kate agreed as Kurt snagged one of Annie's cupcakes with his tail and she just started to grin even wider.

"Don't worry, Ty; it's fine. Not everyone can show a little restraint," K teased.

But at that, Tammy just raised an eyebrow as she looked around the little group and understood in a second what the icing was being used for - and instead of stealing herself a cupcake, she just picked up some of the icing from the bowl telekinetically so she could skip straight to the kissing.

"No, they can't," Tyler laughed and nipped at her hand. Tammy laughed along with him — and then shrieked when Tyler picked her up and swept her up in his arms to give her a long, deep kiss, grinning when the kiss broke and she had icing on her face too. "To be fair, if I just carry you everywhere, you'll lose all the icing fights," he told her.

Tammy laughed and pulled a few more globs of icing over with a wave of her hand. But Tyler caught more of it as he reached out to grab the icing out of the air — and prove he was right about winning the icing fights.

Little Kari was giggling through the entire display, but Cody was starting to get a bit fussy, likely a little tired, and Scott gently swept the little boy up while Tyler and Tammy were still well-occupied. "Have fun," he told Annie, giving her a quick kiss as he headed toward the stairs to put Cody to bed — when a voice that they hadn't heard in quite some time echoed through the room.

"Looks like you made enough for guests," Creed rumbled out from just outside of the kitchen. "Nice to get a warm welcome for a change."

Annie let out an audible gasp and dropped the pan she had been holding as Kurt barked a few words in German to the bamfs, little poofs of smoke echoing around the kitchen as they made sure all of the little ones had at least one bamf to get them out of there.

In a flash, all of the kids — and anyone who had been holding one — had been teleported off to K's cottage, which was the usual emergency hideout for situations like this. The kids were all wide-eyed and worried, and Kate was trying to shush Kari as she had clearly picked up on the fact that something was wrong and had started crying. The bamfs brought Scott and Cody back too, but the little guy was well asleep, and as soon as Scott arrived, he took just a second to look around the cottage and put Cody down before he demanded to go back.

And back in Westchester, the heroes who were left were ready for a fight. "Annie too," K said low to the bamf nearest her shoulder, and the little guy gave her a quick sort of nod before he latched onto Annie's shoulder — taking her out of there fast. She shouted for Tyler and Tammy to get out of there as well as she and Kurt dove in to attack Creed.

Creed chuckled as the two of them started the real offensive. Kurt of course disappeared for a moment to retrieve his sword, but once he got back, it was a driving fight that quickly found its way out of the kitchen and deeper into the mansion. Though the two of them looked deadly serious, Victor was grinning — clearly enjoying himself.

He'd anticipated Kurt's teleport and met him with sharp claws and a wide grin before he threw Kurt halfway across the living room. Before K could make the rush, though, Scott made his reappearance known as he shot for Victor's center mass.

The shot knocked Victor back several paces, and as he fell back, Tammy and Tyler — clearly having not listened to K — arrived to help as Tammy threw out a hand to pick up the falling Sabretooth and pitch him as hard as she could into the chandelier ... and then into the floor in rapid succession, leaving a Creed-shaped dent in the hardwood.

As he landed, K was already in motion and airborne herself to try and stab him in the face — but clearly, Victor had been itching for a fight for too long. Even though he wasn't recovered, he managed to catch her wrists and slam her down next to him. As he got to his feet, he dragged her along with him and pulled her tight to him.

"You're outnumbered and you know it — put her down," Scott all but demanded.

"Never did care much about numbers," Creed half purred out. "But I can still tear up everyone here without breaking much of a sweat." He made sure K was covering anything vital before he grinned Scott's way. "Go ahead. Take your shot. Killin' her myself would be nice, but knowin' you'd have to explain yourself to the Runt might make it worth my while."

It was a bit of a stalemate as the X-Men tried to find the right angle to attack, and K just looked like she was getting more and more mad as she drove her heel toward him - trying to break his foot or hit a muscle in his leg. "I am  _sick_ and tired of being the stupid bait — take the shot, Scott." But Creed was holding her right in front of him and had one hand wrapped around her throat, the tips of his claws just barely piercing the skin — clearly as a deterrent to anyone trying to just yank her away. His other arm was across her waist, holding both wrists in one hand.

Scott let out all his breath, clearly frustrated with his limited options before he quickly fired off a blast at Creed's head, aiming to catch the side as he blasted through not only flesh but part of the wall with the high-intensity but refined beam. It certainly knocked Creed off balance, but as he flinched away from the shot, he clenched the hand around K's throat and sliced through everything of importance — before he simply threw her at Scott.

Scott moved to catch K as best he could to try and keep her from taking any  _more_ damage than she already had, falling to one knee as she knocked into him. He looked openly wide-eyed and upset over the extent of her injuries, muttering a little apology as he set her down.

With a low snarl, Victor closed the distance fast and backhanded Scott before Scott could get back to his feet — hard enough to knock him sideways a solid five or six feet. He pounced on the X-Men's leader and brought down his claws, tearing into him from shoulder to waist down to the bone. He was drawing back to rip him open the rest of the way when Tammy focused every bit of concentration she had on simply stopping his momentum — and then threw him across the room.

"I'll keep him there — you help Scott," she called out to Tyler.

Tyler nodded and rushed over to where Scott and K were as a few of the bamfs had appeared in various stages of agitation — worried over Scott, worried over K, and worried over their injured big brother in the living room as they chattered at Tyler.

"If you guys are gonna get them outta here, don't take them to where the kids are," Tyler said. "They don't need to see this."

One of the little guys nodded fervently and mimed out pushing a pair of glasses onto his little face as a couple of the others were checking over K and Scott even as Tyler was healing Scott. But when Tammy let out a cry of frustration as Creed was proving hard to hold back telekinetically — they teleported both of the injured X-Men out of the way as soon as it was clear Tyler had done enough that Scott at least wasn't going to bleed out.

As Tammy's concentration shattered, Tyler turned with a snarl to meet his father head-on. He'd never  _ever_ let loose like that before, but there was no reason whatsoever to hold back, and he knew it. Nothing short of being totally ruthless would  _stop_ Victor, let alone kill him.

But his vicious assault was misdirected; there was no way that he was going to be able to power through his father. As tall and broad as Tyler was, Victor was bulkier and had over a century of fighting and killing under his belt — every second of which he enjoyed.

"They teach you to be submissive here, boy? That is what they do best, ya know," Creed said with a smile and a growl as he kept just out of Tyler's reach. "Gotcha trained to roll over and show yer belly — just like ol' Chuckles would have wanted."

"What do you care?" Tyler snapped back with a growl.

"I care cause yer gonna be sullyin' my rep runnin around with the goodie two shoes crowd as dashin' as you are."

"Got a rep of my own to defend — so stay out of it," Tyler replied shortly as he tried to swipe at Creed.

"You're gonna have to stop me, pup," Creed growled back before he darted forward and hit Tyler in the side of the head — claws retracted — as a warning. "Why don'tcha get smart and just walk away from this white hat crap? They're using you just as bad as anyone else will."

Tyler snarled at that and pulled a move out of K's handbook to grab Vic's arm while he was close enough and simply drive his claws down that arm as his own kind of warning.

"Takin' lesson's from the Runt's little … " Creed growled before he charged him, no longer in the mood to play little games with the boy. He was all claws and teeth as he slashed at Tyler, but that was interrupted a bit, and Creed's focus was shot for just an instant, when he realized that Tyler was using Logan's techniques. Redirection, using his motions against him, and keeping calm as he got his shots in on him too. "Drop that kung fu bullshit and fight me like a man!" Victor snarled out in frustration as he couldn't land a hit on the boy.

"What, you can't keep up, old man?"

"Shoulda known you'd take tips from a coward," Creed growled out.

Tyler bared his teeth as he dodged one of Creed's swipes. "I don't know … seems like the coward here is the one using a  _five-foot_   _woman_ as a human shield."

"She's dead weight anyhow," Victor said with a sneer. "Not much different than your mother was, to be honest. Just another worthless little frail."

All of Tyler's calm demeanor evaporated in an instant, and for just a second, he  _stared_ at Victor, blinked, and then broke into an honest to goodness roar as he charged toward Sabretooth to try and tear him apart as viciously as he could.

Victor looked taken aback by the swift change in the young man, but then as he was taking his licks, he couldn't help but chuckle. "There it is. That's what I needed to see," Victor said. "Nice to know there's more of myself in you than just a resemblance."

But that — that was enough to tip the scales back to Victor's favor as Tyler simply seemed totally sideswiped by the comparison.

Victor hit Tyler hard with a right hook that sent him sprawling backward. Before Tyler could even consider trying to get up again, Creed was on top of him, pounding on him or slashing — whichever struck his fancy — and muttering all the things they had in common, mentally tearing him down with every word.

"You leave him  _alone_ ," Tammy demanded. She was well-worn from trying to hold him back earlier, but she still had enough steam to toss sharp bits of broken chandelier at him.

"You got a little woman trying to protect you. No, that ain't like that rotten little sawn off fireplug at all, is it?" Creed said, ignoring the debris as he continued to half-growl out his venomous abuse.

"Rather be like him than you any day," Tyler spit out through his teeth.

Tammy was right in the middle of a string of threats when a muted bamf echoed the room and she disappeared — and half a second later, Tyler was freed up as a little adamantium-laced rage ball blasted into Victor to give him six deep holes to think about.

No words were spoken between the two of them — though it was clear that Logan didn't care how Victor had gotten there, just as long as he was stopped.  _Now._

Their fight didn't stay in the living room long, and with a big crash — through the window — the two of them ended up outside, moving much faster than Tyler could track. Blood was flying and hits were easily  _heard_ — even over the growls and snarls.

"Easy there, big guy," said a metallic-laced voice from nearby as Iron Man arrived with a little bamf on his shoulder, crossing the room in a few strides as Tyler could hear the little intake of breath even through the helmet as Tony's armor looked him over. "You took some serious damage, kid."

"We gotta go help him out," Tyler said, frowning as the two ferals duked it out fiercely.

"Yeah, don't worry. I brought toys," Tony assured him as he held up an arm to pull back a panel and showed Tyler something a lot like K's little shockers. "Stay here and don't pass out alright?" he called over his shoulder as he dove toward the fight.

Logan had switched over to his more focused version of fighting and managed to pop up and kick Victor in the face with a spinning kick. It knocked the big blonde terror back far enough from Logan that Tony could take the shot — and with a loud arcing noise, Victor hit the ground hard.

"I had it, bucket head," Logan muttered.

"Sure did." Tony glanced over at Tyler. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"They can't be too far," Logan said as he brushed himself off a bit.

"Scott and K were pretty badly torn up," Tyler said with a deep frown. "The bamfs took them down to go see ... go see  _my dad_." He was glaring at Victor hard as he said it, half leaning against the doorway. "I only got started on healing Scott before this idiot interrupted me."

"Yeah, well, don't worry about that creep for now," Tony said. "He's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"How bad is pretty bad?" Logan asked, heading toward the med lab already. "And where the hell is everyone else?"

"Kurt and the bamfs got Annie and Kate out with all the kids," Tyler said, heading after Logan. "Don't know about the rest, though."

At that, Logan simply nodded and took off at a jog — sure that whatever it was that had Creed calling… this was not going to be good.


	6. Just A Little Intergalactic Warfare

The medical lab was empty.

Absolutely no one was there when Logan, Tyler, and Tony arrived, and it had Logan on edge. "Your dumbass sperm donor was a distraction," Logan growled Tyler's way.

"Where — where did everybody go? Where's Scott and Kurt and Dad?" Tyler asked, frowning as he looked around the empty med bay.

"Shi'ar," Logan said.

"Oh, that's what that scent is?" Tyler glanced around once more, frowning harder now that he knew what name to put with it.

"Where the hell's Noh?" Logan asked before he hit his comm to see who was around. "If you can answer, now's the time," he said into the comm.

"Logan?" came the response — but it wasn't from anyone he had expected. Instead, he definitely recognized Leslie Ann's voice on the other end.

"Where you at, little darlin'?" he asked.

"In the tunnels," Leslie Ann replied, sounding upset and slightly hyperventilating.

Logan turned to Stark. "You mind doin' a quick scan for those ugly bastards?"

"I'm on it," Tony promised as he got started, though it didn't take him long to report that, at least, there weren't any on the premises.

"They're gone for now," Logan said after Tony gave him the all clear. "Get up here."

"Where — is Dr. McCoy there?" This time is was Sophia on the other end of the comm, also sounding upset.

"No," Logan said. "But Tyler is if you're injured." He turned to Tyler. "If you need a bite to eat, now would be the time to get with it. And if those aren't healed up by the time you get back, you're getting stitches."

Tyler nodded and glanced down at the claw marks Victor had left across him, then scooted around Hank's desk and rummaged around for the supply of treats for his patients. Seeing that Tyler wasn't planning on leaving the med bay, Logan went over to wash up and grab the supplies to stitch him up, muttering under his breath about bleedin' all over the damn place.

When the junior squad came up out of the tunnels, Logan was part of the way through stitching up Tyler, though he quickly saw that Tyler wasn't going to be his only patient for the day. Rico and Jana had Noh propped up between them, and it was clear their security chief was unconscious and badly hurt. Sophia and Leslie Ann were both on the verge of tears as they trailed behind as well.

"Lay him down," Logan directed as he picked up the pace with Tyler. "Anyone else hurt?"

"Sophia broke her hand trying to stop one of those guys," Rico told him, his wings fluttering nervously behind him as he and Jana laid Noh out.

"That'll be Ty's turf," Logan said. "In about … five minutes."

"Nobody else got too badly hurt, though," Jana said. She looked around the med bay for a moment with wide eyes as she added, "Noh came and found us, got us somewhere safe and kept those aliens away, but we don't know what happened to anybody else."

Tyler looked a bit shocked when Logan finished up and taped him up much faster than he'd seen Hank work before he headed over to look at Noh. "Grab that crap Hank keeps around for him, Ty," Logan said as he started looking over the damage Noh had and put in an IV line. "He won't hurt me if he hits me," he said in explanation to Tyler.

"Can I help?" Leslie Ann asked as Tyler moved to grab the IV bag for Noh.

"Not sure yet," Logan said as he glared a bit at Noh's wounds. It was pretty obvious that had he been human, he'd be getting stitched up. But with Noh's advanced healing …

Tyler had just hung the IV bag and hooked it up to Noh's line when he joined Logan in frowning at the damage. "I don't know enough about Kree anatomy to help here," he admitted.

"I can download it for you, but… I don't have any extradimensional cockroach anatomy files except what he let me work on during the invasion," Tony offered.

"Don't bother," Logan said before he pushed Tyler back a bit and jammed his thumb into what was clearly a pressure point at the point between his neck and shoulder and a second one near his sternum that had Noh gasping as his eyes popped open and he blindly took a swing. Logan blocked then pushed him back by the shoulders. "What happened?"

Noh's eyes were still wide for a moment as he took a second to realize where he was and then glanced at Logan. "I'm sorry," he gasped out. "I could only get the younger ones out. The others... "

"Before you start — do I need to stitch you up?" Logan asked.

Noh glanced down at himself and let out a hiss and several swear words in his native language. "If I was home…" He swore again. "Stitches would expedite things, inelegant as they are."

"Alright, then you can tell me about what happened while I work," Logan said as he looked up at Tyler to get the stitches. "You guys have two minutes to make your bets before I start."

"On… how many stitches?" Rico asked, blinking a few times.

"Yep. Leslie Ann's gonna keep track of who says how many," Logan said as he gave her a little nod.

But Leslie Ann wasn't paying much attention to Logan as she'd spotted something — a little tail sticking out from behind one of the cabinets of medical supplies. She crouched down low and let out a little gasp when she found the little injured bamf. "Guys!" she called out, running over with the little guy and a look of deep and terrified concern.

The group as a whole looked her way as she brought him closer and Logan waved her over. The little guy was pretty hurt, but when he saw Logan, he started to chatter in his one-word language.

Logan narrowed his eyes as he clearly was concentrating on the little guy. "All of them are gone?" The little demon nodded his head. "Are all of them captured or …" But the little bamf just started yammering away at top speed for another few minutes, and Logan took a deep breath. "Can you get your other little brothers to get everyone that's not hurt to where the kids are?"

The little guy nodded fervently and chattered away again as Leslie Ann tried to baby him as best she could without much training.

"Okay," Logan said, nodding. "I'll fix up Noh, then you're next. After that, you're taking everyone outta here and then getting me and Ty to my place — got it?"

Even as the bamf was nodding, Jana had stepped in and was shaking her head. "If these guys captured everybody, you'll need help," she insisted.

"Yeah, but we gotta regroup where we know they can't find us," Logan said. "One thing at a time, mini-Slim." He shook his head as he turned to Noh and started whipping stitches. "Basic battleground tactics, kiddo."

"Yeah, but you told them to take us to where the kids are — and you and Lifeguard are going somewhere else. That's not regrouping."

"Yeah, because there are more injured that the kids don't need to see," Logan half growled. "Before you get yourself knotted up, you might want to ask what's going on instead of assuming you  _know everything._ " He looked up at her for a second between stitches. "Unless you can speak their language and you think  _I got it wrong._ "

"I can't speak their language. I just don't want to get left behind," Jana said, though she looked abashed and not nearly as confident as before.

It took a bit longer to finish up with Noh than it had to fix up Tyler, and Logan was quick to offer him a hand up when he was done. "Doubt you'll pull 'em," he said. "But I'll bet Jubes'd prefer you didn't try."

"She and Bobby were close by when the Shi'ar struck," Noh told him with an open expression. "I know Cassie was able to get many of the other students to safety, but… we couldn't get them all, my friend. Jubilee, Bobby, Storm ... I don't know who else ... I haven't seen them since I was knocked unconscious, and I fear they were taken. At least there are no bodies..."

"We'll get 'em back," Logan promised. "If I gotta tear that whole damn planet apart with my bare hands, we'll get 'em back."

Noh nodded and set his jaw as he closed his eyes and tried not to panic as much as he wanted to. "My Jubilee has a penchant for danger," Noh sighed out at last.

"No idea where that came from," Logan muttered under his breath as he took the bamf from Leslie Ann and looked him over. "You don't want stitches, do you?" he asked as the little guy cringed and shook his head. "Okay. Ty, got any dermabond? We'll just glue 'im together." He popped a claw and tried to make sure that the bamf's soft fur was gone all around the wound on his arm before Tyler came back.

"You do it," Logan said. "I'll just make sure the edges line up."

As Tyler gently helped Logan with the bamf, Leslie Ann was hovering nearby and trying to comfort the little guy. "You'll have a nice battle scar," she said.

"Doubt it," Logan said.

"Oh, hush. He'll look so cool and brave," Leslie Ann insisted, waving her head at him.

"You see that?" Logan said, leaning toward the little guy for a second. "They all think you're snuggly little fluff balls that need battle scars."

The little guy giggled impishly and flashed Logan a wide grin as he chattered back at him.

"Yeah, just keep out of my whiskey and it's a lot more believable," he advised, which only got the little guy giggling harder.

"Well, we don't have whiskey, but I did find a Twinkie that Tyler didn't eat," Jana offered, producing the little treat as Logan and Tyler finished their work — and the little guy gratefully took it and chowed down.

Logan and Tyler both headed over to wash up and grab some supplies before they headed back to the bamf and the kids. "Go on — get 'em outta here and then take us out," Logan said.

The little guy nodded and grabbed hold of Leslie Ann first, vanishing in a poof of smoke. A few moments later, all of the other bamfs arrived and quickly pulled the rest of them back to either K's cottage — for the younger team members and Tony — or Logan's cabin for Tyler and Logan and Noh.

As soon as the three men arrived, Tammy threw herself at Tyler to hug him, her eyes wide. "K's still bleeding. I don't… I tried to stop it but I don't know what to do!"

Logan had already found his way to K and was putting pressure on her neck as Noh brought him some supplies. "Tammy, you did fine. Wash up and pick her out something clean to wear. First door to the right. Everyone else, try to just … breathe."

Tammy took a deep, steadying breath before she rushed off to follow his instructions, leaving the rest of them to try to attend to K — and get their breaths as well.

* * *

The kids had started to settle down in K's cottage after the initial scare of everything that had happened. Most of them had eventually fallen asleep, tired out from all the excitement, though Elin and Sying were still awake and waiting for any sign of either of their parents.

"This is unexpected," Tony said as soon as the smoke had halfway cleared of his arrival with the bamfs. "Are all of your hideouts this … cozy?"

Both Annie and Kate glanced up at the arrival of Tony and the junior squad — one little bamf had also grabbed Brye from her exchange at the Avengers Tower — but before any of the teenagers could explain what had happened or either of the women could  _ask_ , Sying had run at full speed to wrap his arms around Tony's knees.

"Where Mom and Dad, Tony?" he asked. "They comenin too?"

"Mom is going to be a while, but Dad is with Logan and K and the … mini tooths. Or … whatever you call them," Tony said in as straightforward a report style as he could.

Annie and Kate shared a look as Sying climbed up Tony's armor to hang out with his favorite Avenger for a while and Leslie Ann crouched down by Elin to offer the little girl a hug to try and help.

"What happened?" Kate asked a couple of the bamfs, who started chattering away at top speed as Kate just frowned harder and harder the more she heard, clearly trying very hard not to give away how upset she was in front of the kids at what they were telling her.

"I'm sure Logan and company will be here soon," Tony said reassuringly.

"And my dad," Sying reminded him.

"He's part of the 'and company', kiddo," he said as he ruffled the little guy's hair.

"Tony, can you and the kids keep an eye on things here?" Kate asked, looking up from her chat with the bamfs. "I'm going to take Annie upstairs. Fill her in."

"Ah, sure … if you want to do the same for me later too?" Tony said. "I didn't exactly get the whole picture myself, and Logan wasn't particularly chatty. As usual."

"He never is," Kate said with a sigh. She frowned as she looked around the group. "Alright ... Sying, can you and Elin help Sophia and the others take care of the little ones?" she asked the little half-Kree, and he nodded enthusiastically as he climbed out of Tony's arms.

"We've got it," Jana promised. She scooped up the little boy as soon as he was away from Tony, and Kate shot her a grateful look before she pulled Tony and Annie into Logan and K's room to give them a breakdown of what the bamfs had told her.

"Sabretooth was a distraction," she explained, dropping all pretense of calm as she instead looked  _furious_. "He busted through our security so the Shi'ar could get in behind him and  _take_ the X-Men."

"What for?" Tony asked with a small frown as Annie started to pace.

"They weren't exactly announcing their intentions, as I understand it," Kate pointed out before she scrubbed both hands over her face and looked suddenly much more upset. "They managed to get their hands on just about everyone on the senior squad. Jubilee, Storm, Bobby, Remy — and they grabbed Scott and Kurt and Hank right out of the med lab when Hank was trying to fix them up."

"But they didn't kill anyone," Annie said quickly, and Kate was sure to quickly grab her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze.

"No, but… the Shi'ar aren't exactly nice," Kate said softly. "And this isn't the first time they've snatched some X-Men. One of Scott's first missions back with us…"

"I remember — he went to save you, didn't he?" Annie said.

"Yeah. And if he hadn't shown up when he did … they were planning on shipping us back to the Shi'ar homeworld for trophies. They're not really…"

"As I understand it," Tony said. "They're right bastards."

"Yeah, that," Kate said. She ran both hands through her hair as she looked apologetically Annie's way. "They totally suck."

"So, too bad for them we've got two snarly rage balls, a couple of Hawkeyes, our very own snarly tooth, and … well. Me." Tony couldn't help but look at least a little cocky about it.

Annie looked toward Tony and cracked the smallest of smiles. "Get them back fast. Please. I'm getting very tired of being separated from my husband."

"Yep, just gotta text a few people …. get some of your buddies to meet up with us ... once we hear from Wolverine. Sounded like he had half of a plan brewing," Tony said.

"It's always half a plan with him," Kate couldn't help but say.

"That … is only because the other half is all snarls and claws," Tony countered. "And hitting them real hard."

"That's true," Kate said, leaning back the slightest bit. "Alright. Soon as Logan and company get back, we're staging a rescue. I didn't like it the first time when the Shi'ar had my little Elf, and I'm pretty sure the second time when he's my  _husband_ now means I get to break their faces."

* * *

Back at Logan's cabin, Tammy had finally stopped fussing over Tyler's stitches. "How hard did he  _hit_ you? You can heal!"

"I can heal other people," Tyler said softly. "My own healing isn't nearly that quick. Not like Logan and K anyhow."

"But you  _do_ heal." She squeezed his hand in hers and stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, but ... he hit me really, really hard," he said with a little smile. "And I hit him back just as hard."

"Yes, yes you did," Tammy agreed, looking very proud of her new husband. She pulled on his hand to get him to his feet. "Where are we, anyway? Did Logan tell you?" she asked as she kept pulling him toward the door.

"No, he didn't say where we were, but … it's gotta be his cabin. I mean…. They have clothes here, right?"

"Yeah, okay, but  _where_ are we?" Tammy asked as she shouldered open the door and let out a little gasp of surprise.

"Oh, wow," Tyler said as he looked at the deep snow and what had to be a lake, since the dark ice was visible beyond the drifts that lined the edge of the water.… And the mountain beyond that was kind of … "Wow. Um. North."

"It's beautiful," Tammy said, though she was starting to shiver and pulled Tyler's arms around her as she looked out over the snow. "Definitely not the beach, though."

"I love it," Tyler said with a smirk.

"Of  _course_ you do, Idaho boy," Tammy said with a little laugh as she pulled his arms a little tighter. "You're one of those guys that wears shorts when it's blizzarding, aren't you?"

"No reason to change until it gets cold," Tyler teased.

She rolled her eyes and turned around in his arms so she was facing him. "Well, I'm freezing."

"Let's warm up by the fire, then," he suggested.

Inside, Logan had carried K to their room to get her cleaned up and changed while the kids were exploring, though when she finally opened her eyes, he couldn't help but tease a little bit. "You know, if you thought I wasn't givin' you enough attention, you didn't need to go and get your throat torn out."

She gave him a dry look and reached up to slap him, but for as much blood as she'd lost, her aim was awful. He caught her hand anyhow and kissed her palm before he handed her a glass of water. "When you can stand up a little better, we'll go see the kids and get our teammates back." With that, he laid down with her for a moment to very quickly catch her up on all she'd missed.

And then there was Noh, who had been looking around the little cabin. When he found the room that Logan leant out to the girls, he had to grin to himself when he saw the decorations that, clearly, Logan's girls had put up. He grinned especially when he noticed that Jubilee had stashed some music in the room, and he lazed away while K was getting cleaned up just looking through Jubilee's music — and making note of anything she had here that he didn't have on his ship.

But when he found the little scrapbook tucked away in the room, he simply lost himself in it for a while, completely engrossed in the pages that chronicled her time spent with Gen X. He paused over a page that showed a young boy named Angelo — he recognized the name of her fallen friend. He simply stared down at the grinning Jubilee and Angelo in the picture for a long moment.

Tucked in the pages, he also found a few pictures of Jubilee with her family, long before the X-Men... And for just that moment, Noh felt the keenness of loss that never really went away. Jubilee had lost her friend and her parents ... he had lost his entire family and crew… this was a dangerous job.

But the pictures shifted quickly from a glum-looking teenager obviously out of her depth to more and more photos with her  _new_ family. Of course, pictures of Logan had a bit more prominence, but Scott and his first wife had a pretty heavy concentration too. Noh hadn't really known her, but she did look strikingly like Rachel. All of the X-men were well represented, and many of the pictures were of her with them.

Slowly and carefully, Noh put aside the scrapbook and seemed to realize for the first time how much time had passed as he quickly slipped out of the girls' room and headed down to find Logan and K. "We cannot delay," he said softly. "My Jubilee… all the others… we cannot leave them with the Shi'ar."

"No, we can't," K rasped out as she took Logan's hands and tried to balance herself a little bit better. "Let's get the little blue buggers and go. I can heal on the way."

"I'd rather you sit this one out," Logan said.

"And I'd rather you give me the fights and attention I want so I don't go drawing in trouble," she countered with a little smirk.

"And I'd rather have my intergalactic lawyer with me than not," Noh said. "My ship is fast — the kids just had lessons this morning, and it is brimming with energy. And the kitchen is well-stocked. We can heal on the way."

K let Logan pull her close, and she draped one arm over his shoulders as they headed out to the living room, where Tammy and Tyler were curled up under a blanket. "Vacation's over," Logan told them. "Time to get back to work."

"Great — let's get going," Tammy said. "Where are we going?"

"Headed off to wherever the Shi'ar have decided to stash the rest of the X-Men," Logan said as he let K take a seat while he doused the fire.

"O...kay," Tammy said, a bit wide-eyed.

"It'll be fine," K said with a little wave, though she still looked quite pale. "Just a little intergalactic warfare. Like Kindergarten."

"Yeah, well, last time there was an invasion didn't work out so well for me," Tammy said. Her tone was light and obviously meant to be joking, but her body language was not, and she had her hand over where Osborn's arm band had once been until Tyler wrapped her up from behind in a warm kiss to pull her mind off of things.

"No, no; we're invading them this time," K said before she turned to Noh. "You have coffee and chocolate on the ship, right?"

"I am married to Jubilation Lee. Do you really need to ask such frivolous questions?" he replied without missing a beat.

"Yes," she replied, totally straightfaced.

"I have enough chocolates and coffee to get us all the way to the Shi'ar homeworld and back," he promised her. "Which is likely where we are headed, as that was where they intended to take us when we were captured and enslaved years ago."

"Why didn't they take me?" K said with a frown. "I'm not complaining; I'm just … curious."

"Well… the bamfs took you here, and they took Scott and Kurt to the med bay," Tammy tried to explain. "Then they sent me here to … look after you, I guess. Since you don't really need Hank?"

"They're weird little demons. All I was going to do was bleed all over the floor anyhow," she said with a shrug.

"Perhaps they thought it was better for you to bleed someplace safe and hidden away and familiar," Noh said with a smirk. "At any rate, we'll ask them later — now is the time to find Jubilee and the others."

Logan had pulled K close again as the little bamfs came near to 'port them to K's cottage — which, Tyler was tickled to see, was also covered with a rather impressive amount of snow. However, it had been long enough that those inside had kept the fire going, and it was warm — and Annie had even managed to cook a little something in case anyone was in need of her stress baking skills.

"Perfect — can you pack this stuff up?" K asked as Logan set her down in a chair in the kitchen. "We got places to go and aliens to stab."

"I can — are you alright?" Annie asked, simultaneously looking her over with concern and packing food away for them to take with them.

"I will be by the time we're there to fight," K said. "Pretty sure it's going to take more than a few hours."

"Yes, unfortunately, I cannot traverse time and dimensions any longer," Noh agreed, though he didn't get to say much more as Sying came running up to him to climb up into his arms, glad to see at least one of his parents after the day's excitement and scariness.

"Tony helpnin me," Sying explained to his dad. "Teachnin me numbers."

"He's very good at numbers," Noh said with a little smirk.

"Sying is really good at numbers too," Chance piped up helpfully. "He can count as high as I can!"

While Annie was packing up food for their trip — with Krissy's enthusiastic help — Charlie had made her way over to where Tyler was to frown up at him. "Where is  _my_ dad?" she asked.

"We have to go pick him up," Tyler said. "He's further away than the bamfs can go get him."

"Is he fighting?" she asked with that same little frown. "You gonna fight bad guys too?"

"I think so," Tyler told her with a little smile. "We'll be back soon, we hope."

"Okay." She peered at him carefully and frowned a little longer before she headed off to go help Krissy pack up some food for them.

Elin was on K's lap, making sure her mom was eating, and nibbling with her as they finished up their final prep. "Did you text everyone to meet us at the mansion, or are the bamfs just going to 'port them onto the ship?" K asked. "Since … I'm assuming we're bringing more than Iron Man."

"Just a few more," Tony said with a smirk. "They're on their way to the mansion now. The way Clint drives, they probably beat us back, too."

"They're bringing Miles and Kamala, too — we asked for a few extra babysitters," Kate said.

"Good choices," K muttered half under her breath.

"We're coming too," Jana spoke up, drawing herself up to her full almost-five-foot height as some of the other junior squad members nodded along.

"You know the risks, right?" K asked, looking skeptical, though she wasn't going to say anything further in front of the little ones.

"What's the point of training us if we don't get the chance to help when you  _need_ it?" Rico pointed out.

"And they've got my uncle," Leslie Ann added quietly.

"And you need to stay here," Logan said to her. "The rest of these kids are old enough to go, but I'm not putting you at risk."

"That's not fair; I'm thirteen! I'm plenty old enough!"

"No, it's not, but I'm not gonna get your parents in a twist over this. If this was earthbound, I'd  _consider it,"_  Logan promised. "But I'm not about to take you off world."

"And besides, I could really use your help here," Annie said soothingly, though she was shooting Logan a very grateful look.

"Tell you what: when we get back, I'll take you to Japan," Logan said. "With one other X-Man."

Leslie Ann's jaw dropped a bit as Kate  _beamed_. "That's a good deal, Leslie Ann. That — that's an adventure and a half with  _ninjas_."

It was clear that the young girl knew she'd be a fool to turn the offer down, and she just started to nod. "Can we bring Bobby?"

"I'll tell him he's gotta go — since you helped save his frozen butt," Logan said.

She bit her lip and nodded at last as Jana shot her a sympathetic look before she made herself busy helping out again by playing with Cody pointedly. It was obvious she wanted to go with the junior squad, but with a trip to Japan dangling over her head...

K and Logan took a moment to give their little ones kisses before they again stood close for the bamfs to teleport them all back to Westchester. "Ready when you are," Logan said to the group at large before he looked to Annie. "There should be plenty to eat — don't plan on being gone for too long either way."

"Just leave me with at least one bamf in case you do go long and I need to teleport to a  _grocery store_ ," she said with a little smirk.

"Hear that guys?" K asked as she looked at the little bamf on Logan's shoulders. "She needs at least one of you to sacrifice from your busy schedule and stay here to be spoiled."

The bamfs all glanced at each other and giggled — and the next few minutes were spent in a very competitive few rounds of rock-paper-scissors before two of the bamfs won the right to stay and eat Annie's stress baking sweets while the others headed off with the rescue party.


	7. Tony Is Not The Starship Enterprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which the group heads out to rescue their missing members.

When the group returned to Westchester, Clint was waiting, nearly dancing in place, ready to go and get Natasha, but Kamala and Miles were there holding little Zoe.

"Morales babysitting service," Miles said with a little smirk.

"You can meet up with the Summers  _professional_ sitting services in just a minute," K told him. "We're feeding you this time."

"See, Kamala? I told you we'd get paid," Miles said without missing a beat as Kamala rolled her eyes at him.

"You're going to be at our cottage too — so no one will find you," Logan added.

"It's really that bad?" Kamala asked quietly over the top of a sleeping Zoe's head.

"Precautionary measures," Logan said with a wave. "They got into the school, but that cottage is a lot harder to find and a lot further off the grid."

"No pizza delivery, though," K said with a smirk. "So you have Annie the wonder cook instead."

"I was just about to complain, and then you said 'wonder cook' so I think I can survive," Miles promised with a crooked grin.

"Okay, great, but let's just feed 'em and go, because Nat and Thor were on rotation here, and nobody's seen 'em," Clint pointed out, still bouncing a bit as it was clear he was  _ready to go_ and get Natasha back.

"Right." K took a step forward and took Clint's arm to take him to where Noh had stashed his ship. "Good luck, kids." They barely got to it when K had to at least  _try_ to pick on him. "Okay, this flight is going to take a while, but no coffee for you."

Clint made a pained noise in the back of his throat. "You're trying to torture me."

"Just want to make sure you're good and mean by the time we get there."

"That… is not gonna be a problem no matter what depending on how and where we find Tasha," Clint said with a little glare.

"Even if I'm drinking it in front of you?"

"You want me to attack them and not you, right?"

"You can try to attack me, but someone is a little antsy after Creed worked me over," she said with a little shrug. "We have lots of food from Annie so some of us can heal up. Could sugar you up a little I suppose. Try and give you a fighting chance."

"Look, just give me coffee and a straight shot at whoever took my wife, and I swear I'll be fine."

"Don't I always try to do that for you?" she asked. "Try to hold it back a little until we get there. You're gonna wear yourself out from nerves before we hit their turf."

He glanced her way and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "That's what the coffee's for."

"Tell you what; I'll lock you and Kate in a room together with a coffee pot. When I come to check on you, if you're both acting like freakin' idiots, I'm gonna knock both your asses out until we get there. Deal?"

"It's only a deal if our sparkly son gets knocked out too. Or didn't you notice his 'my Jubilee' routine?" Clint said with the smallest of smirks.

"Oh, I noticed," K said. "But we need him to steer. Or yes, I'd knock his ass out too — and I'd do him first just so you could watch it."

Clint waved a hand. "Pshaw. You act like steering's so important," he joked. He took a deep, cleansing breath and made an obvious attempt to look calmer for her. "Slower build on the anger, right?"

"That's all I'm asking for. Slow burn ends up being a lot nastier on the other side. I swear I know what I'm talking about here."

"And seeing as these guys took my wife, I like nastier," Clint said with a look that K didn't usually see on him.

"Well, I can certainly give you ideas on more nasty," K said.

He nodded and readjusted his grip on his bow for a moment. "Sounds like good dinner conversation."

"It may well be," K said. "I'm sure Noh will have something to add to it. But until then, I'm taking some food and finding a private room to curl up and finish healing."

"I can grab the food if you wanna skip right to the sleeping — breakfast in bed, right?"

"Oh, but there are parts of the healing process that don't involve sleeping," she teased.

"Sounds like I'm gonna need one of those private rooms for later when we get my wife back," he agreed.

"Yes, you really should," K agreed.

Clint finally smirked and gave her a two-fingered salute before he headed off to go find such a room.

* * *

Although Noh's ship was, in fact, well-supplied with energy and was pushing speeds faster than Noh had seen it hit before, the trip to the Shi'ar homeworld was still a long one. It was made even longer by the fact that the Shi'ar had apparently been spreading the reach of their empire, meaning there were far more patrols to watch out for and detours to take to avoid detection than Noh was entirely happy with.

It required a lot more attentive steering, too, so despite the fact that some of the junior squad had offered to try to help steer. He really needed to stay on the stick or give it to either Kate or Logan or K — someone who knew the ship well and who had the training and reflexes to get them out of patrols, especially with Shi'ar shielding and cloaking making it hard to detect the patrols until they were almost right on top of them.

So that meant Noh was in the pilot's chair more often than not, about ten different holograms pulled up at any given time as he kept an eye out for danger. Tony was down in the observation deck with a rotating frequency emitter that would mimic Shi'ar cloaking, but that would only keep them from being detected at long distances. Visual range meant the Shi'ar could see the Kree-based ship, so… he, too, was being careful.

"So… these guys. They're not real friendly with the Kree, right?"

Noh turned in his seat slightly to see that Jana was leaning with her arms crossed in the doorway and trying to make sense of the diagrams and such that he had up in front of him. "No, they are not," Noh agreed, gesturing for her to take a seat nearby. "But they are not very friendly with most beings outside their empire — generally speaking."

"There should really be a class about all this stuff," Jana said, still looking over the holograms. "I mean, we learn about the tech, but there's all sorts of history and conflicts and stuff — and if we're gonna get caught up in it half the time, we should know about it, right?"

"The intention is  _not_ to get caught up in it," Noh pointed out with a small smile.

"Oh yeah, that's worked out great so far," Jana deadpanned without even looking his way. "I'm not even old enough to drive and I've lived through, like, three huge invasions — and those are just the ones we all  _know_ about."

"You should be proud of your homeworld. To stand free despite invasion attempts from the Kree, the Shi'ar,  _and_ the Skrulls — that's a feat unmatched by any other world that I know of." He smiled her way. "And I've seen many worlds."

"Yeah, you're some kind of explorer, right?" Jana asked. She didn't wait for much of an answer before she indicated one of the holograms. "This kind of looks like a deployment pattern from tactics class, but I can't read Kree well enough to tell if I'm right."

"You can read Kree?" he asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "I… I can't really power through people with the superpower I got, so I'm trying to learn more things. You know ... languages, tactics, and how to throw people over my shoulder…"

He had to smile at that. "Well, you are one of the best students in my technology class," he assured her.

"One of?"

"Ziggy is a technopath; she has quite the advantage over you," Noh said with a little teasing smile before his attention was distracted again, this time by an incoming patrol. He quickly fell silent and inputted the changes into their flight, seizing the controls to steer them out of the way.

For a moment, there was silence in the cockpit before Jana looked his way with wide eyes. "That happen often?"

"Yes. More often the closer we get to our destination. I'm trying to find an approach that will not bring down an army on our heads upon arrival," he explained, indicating the deployment patterns and other holograms.

"Well… you could always just ask Sophia to tell the Shi'ar not to pay us any attention," Jana offered. "It's not as good as being invisible, and we'd still have to get down to the planet, but she's pretty darn convincing."

Noh looked her way with a sort of smirk as he nodded. "That's not a bad idea," he agreed. "Once we get to the surface, our little Siren would definitely help to keep us out of their notice. We aren't exactly typical of what you would see on the Shi'ar homeworld." He gestured to himself and Jana with a little chuckle. "Well ... you are not. I'm sure they have a few Kree there."

"I'll go tell Soph to warm up her pipes," Jana offered, and Noh nodded her way.

"And if you could ... why don't you bring Logan back here," he said thoughtfully. "He has an excellent tactical mind too… and it seems you could offer some insights as well."

She flushed with pleasure for a moment before she nodded and rushed off to do just that, leaving Noh to his thoughts and his diagrams once more.

When Jana found Sophia, the little mermaid was gently looking out for Rico and trying to keep him from drooling over space  _too_ much — though that was hard when he was in space and wanted to be an astronaut since he was three years old.

"It's just… other people train for years and years and have to wear suits and train in zero G and here we are in  _another solar system_ and all I had to do was walk on board and we are  _so behind_ in the space race and seriously…!" Rico was gushing as he looked out over the stars.

"Well. The  _government_  is behind on the space race, let's be real," Tony said as he watched the young man. "The Avengers and the X-Men have always been ahead of that curve."

"Yeah, but come  _on_. We should be intergalactic explorers with half the alien tech on Earth!"

"You really think that having the governments of our world wandering around pissing off even  _more_ alien species is a good idea?"

"... I guess not?" Rico let out all his breath. "But come on!"

"Face it kid; if you want to do space travel, you've already got the posh gig worked out."

"But …  _astronauts_."

"If it makes you feel any better, I bet Noh has the 'Space Oddity' record he can play for you," Jana said as she arrived on the observation deck, and Sophia had to giggle at that.

"Noh  _is_ a space oddity," Tony replied with a little smirk. "But we like him that way."

"He really is," Sophia laughed.

"Yeah, I was just up talking with him," Jana said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "We were talking about a plan once we get there — think you could sing the Shi'ar into ignoring us?" she asked Sophia.

The scales under Sophia's eyes turned a bit pink for a moment before she nodded. "Yeah, I can try," she said. "I don't think I've ever tried to use my powers on Shi'ar before, though."

"As long as they can hear you sing, it should work, right?" Jana offered.

"Don't think of them as Shi'ar," Tony advised. "Think of them as really,  _really_ ugly bad guys. Makes it easier if you're not letting the whole 'alien' thing get in your head."

"Yeah, focus more on keeping the commands really specific," Rico chimed in. "So they don't end up catching us. Because that would be bad." When Tony chuckled at that, it only got Rico to grin.

"Not helping," Jana shot Rico's way with a glare, and he quavered a bit and then shrugged.

"It would be, though," he muttered.

Jana glared at him again and then looked them over. "Anyway, we're getting closer, so you guys should probably head for the bridge. I'm gonna go grab Logan for Noh—"

"Woah, wait … you're going to go get Logan? By yourself?" Tony asked. "Is that strictly wise?"

"Noh asked me to," Jana said with a shrug.

"And Logan and K have been tucked away doing God-knows-what this entire flight," Tony pointed out. "Haven't seen them since dinner — and that seemed to be just for K to get Clint started on the best ways to disembowel a Shi'ar."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding us," Sophia muttered at the floor. "I  _still_ haven't gotten my appetite back."

"Didn't seem to bother them in the least," Tony said, smirking her way.

"That's because they're both crazy," Sophia pointed out. "And they literally refer to each other as 'torture spouses', so…"

"No, Clint refers to them that way," Tony said. "I'm not sure who started that, but I'm going to hope it wasn't her."

"This is the same woman who calls Noh her sparkly darling in vinyl wrapping," Jana pointed out with a smirk.

"Okay you can stop," Tony said as he got up. "I don't want to know what she calls Logan. Good luck, by the way, with that."

"I'll knock," Jana promised, though she did look a bit more apprehensive than she had when she arrived, and she just seemed to get a bit more nervous all the way down the hall to where Logan and K were hidden away.

She paused for a second before she knocked a few times and called out, "Um ... we're almost there, and Noh asked me to get you?"

There was a short pause before Logan rumbled out to come in. "What does he want?" Logan asked when she stepped inside. The scene was nowhere near as bad as Stark had made it out to be, since really, it looked more like Jana had simply woken them up. The two of them were half-wrapped around each other but sleepy looking.

"He's trying to find a way to get past the Shi'ar patrols to get to the planet, I think. Wanted to get your input… and… and mine, I think," she said, looking a bit pink.

"Mmhmm," Logan replied as the two little ferals stretched out and made their way upright. He helped K to her feet and pushed her ahead of him as they headed to the door. When they stepped through, Jana had taken a few steps back, and K grabbed her arm and pulled her over to wrap an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Don't lie, honey, even if you're not sure about what's going on," K whispered. "Unsureness shows."

"I'm not… I'm not trying to lie," Jana assured her.

"You don't know what they want," K said reasonably. "He wanted to go up to help make the plan anyhow, so you didn't really need to bait him. He just wanted to see if you'd answer him. To see what you knew — or if you were just a messenger."

"Noh really did say he wanted me to help," Jana insisted with a bit of a frown.

"He wants you to learn. You don't have anything to offer yet with this scenario — unless you get lucky and find an angle those two won't see. Don't hold your breath."

"Okay, but I wasn't lying," Jana said quickly.

"I didn't say you were," K pointed out.

"You need to stop while you're ahead, kiddo," Logan said from the other side of K.

She shot him a glare before she immediately tried to soften it and just … sighed. "I'm not trying to lie," she muttered out.

"Good. Keep it that way," Logan advised as they came up on the bridge.

Kate was seated at the controls for the ship now, and Noh was pacing back and forth over a few holograms. He glanced up when the three of them arrived and waved them over to start explaining, mostly for Jana's benefit.

"Their planetary defenses are readjusting," he said as he showed the layout of ships around the planet. "While that will create a temporary opening that I believe we can exploit, my concern is that it bodes ill for our friends."

"What do you mean?" Jana asked, since Noh's gaze was on her and he seemed to be waiting for her to response.

"Their defenses are concentrating near the capital city." Noh let out a long and heavy sigh. "Their formation is not offensive, either. And while it is defensive, it is more… ceremonial than anything else."

While that information had K and Logan frowning hard, Jana didn't quite follow whatever it was that Noh wasn't saying. "Ceremonial?" she repeated.

"I can't tell you for sure," Noh said with a slow frown. "I only know that in my studies back home, in my universe, such formations were considered to be an omen of public humiliation at the least, execution at the worst — and the celebrations that followed thereafter." He ran a hand through his hair as he added, "But that was in my universe, and we had long ago conquered the Shi'ar, so my records and training were more historical than anything else."

"Wouldn't surprise me if that's exactly what they're doin'," Logan rumbled out as he looked over the formation Noh had shown him. "After how fast we kicked 'em out last time they came to Earth, they'll want to gloat."

Noh nodded quietly. "The problem is: the opening created by the formation will allow us unfettered access to the planet for a short time, and I have our resident Hawkeye waiting to take advantage of the opening as soon as it presents itself… but it is far from the capital city." He looked up at Logan and K. "Tommy and I can take a few people with us to run across the continent and into the city — but we cannot get the entire rescue party there in time to stop whatever ceremony this is. And if we interrupt them, I worry about what they will do to our friends who are  _not_ part of their… celebrations."

"So the rest of the team will go after them," Jana said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone. "I mean, we've got a couple Avengers, plus the whole junior squad and Kate … maybe Iron Man can scan for Earth life forms or … can you do that?" she asked Tony's way.

Tony glanced her way and gave her a sideways smirk. "I'm not the  _Enterprise_ , kiddo. I can look for Earth tech, but seeing as they've probably taken their comms and badges, I doubt I'll find anything."

"Yeah, but …" K paused as the turned to Tony for a moment. "The first time I was at the Avenger's tower, you made a point to do a full body scan of me. Did you do that for the others too?" Logan turned to half glare at Tony at that.

"Ah, no. Not everyone," Tony admitted. "Not everyone was moonlighting as a secretive secretary and asking for new tech, though."

"Nice cover," Logan grumbled.

"Yeah, but … do you have any of the ones that are missing? Some way to search out their bio-signature?" K asked, largely ignoring her grumpy husband's glare toward Tony.

"I've got some scans from Spidey last time he was having power issues," Tony said with a little nod.

"So … do that, genius," Logan rumbled with a touch of a growl.

"Sure, I'll just reroute my entire sensor array to scan for bio-signatures," Tony grumbled a bit, though he was already starting to make some adjustments. "I'll only need to refigure about half of the data. No problem."

"Wow, you really are stupid when you're flustered," K said with a grin. "Why not send the data to Noh's ship?"

"To be fair to him," Noh said, though he was smirking at Tony's expression, "I've been particularly strict about how much I do  _not_ want his suit interfacing with my ship."

"Pretty sure there's a spot somewhere we can jam a flash drive on that suit," Logan muttered.

Noh laughed. "Nothing so crude," he said. "I can purge my system afterward and keep him out of mine — it's more the principal of the thing," he explained as he waved Tony over and gave him a few whispered commands on where he could interface with the ship, though the ship seemed reluctant to work with Tony, moving her controls around when he got close.

Noh smacked a hand on her console. "Be nice," he hissed out, and the ship finally interfaced with Tony for a moment, though as soon as it had what it wanted, the floor actually tilted and dumped Tony on his back to get rid of him.

"I guess she's done with you," K said with a very amused smirk before Tony could stand up again.

"I feel so  _used_ ," Tony said as he picked himself up and made a bit of a face.

"Aw, poor Tony," K chuckled as she offered him a hand up. "I'm told that's hard to swallow the first time around. How many times is this now for you?"

"Consider your response carefully, and remember how young some of our members are," Noh said quickly when he saw the look on Tony's face. Which had K cackling, since she knew where Tony was headed, and the fact that he  _couldn't_ say what he wanted was just ... too good.

"So, is this the scan?" Jana cut in as a new hologram lit up the bridge screen, and Noh looked over at her with an encouraging smile and a nod as he pulled it from the main screen to in front of them where the rest were. "How do we know if it worked?"

Noh smiled and pointed her attention to the results being filtered through the system. "When this stops spitting out negative responses, it will show the positive one," he explained, and a few moments later, the hologram did just that, showing a position a little further removed from the capital city but still close enough that there would be plenty of security.

"Yeah, this isn't really a good sign," Logan said quietly.

Noh nodded his agreement as he started to input a few other pieces of data into the scan, his frown deepening. "If he is not in the capital, they've separated our friends… I may be able to find one more."

"Let me take a wild guess as to who's apart from the group," Logan said before he let out a sigh.

"I'd say you'd be right, but let me confirm it first," Noh said as he started up a new scan and Jana was looking wide-eyed between the two of them, clearly not following them.

"If we can get her out first, she can more or less level the rest of them," Logan said thoughtfully, before the scan was finished. "They can't fight her."

" _Who_?" Jana asked at last.

"Rachel," K said quietly. "She's carrying the Phoenix force." She watched the girls' lack of response before she explained very shortly. "The Phoenix can destroy entire planets in an instant. They can't defend against her."

"Oh." Jana stared at K for a moment. "I… I've never actually touched Rachel, so I didn't know... I thought she just didn't like me ... after the Sinister thing with her dad..."

"Forget the Sinister thing," Logan growled out. "You should learn about what your teammates are capable of."

"I know, but she's never really let me touch her," Jana said.

"You do know how to  _read_ , don't you?" Logan snapped her way.

Jana blinked at him for a moment and took a slight step back. "Sorry," she said quickly.

"You're doin' the same damn thing everyone your age does and forgetting the basics. Use your head instead of your abilities."

Jana bit her lip and fell silent, just nodding at that as Noh frowned the slightest bit and let out a sigh, pushing another hologram Logan's way. "I can take you and K — Tommy can help me — to where Rachel is," he suggested. "If we can disrupt whatever it is they are doing to contain and destroy her, you're right — the fight will be over quickly, and we can move on to help the others."

"Make sure Tony can navigate to the others," Logan said before he turned to Jana. "Get the rest of the junior team together. You all need to hear the plan, and I'm not about to repeat myself."

"Okay," Jana squeaked before she very quickly nodded and rushed off of the bridge to do just that.

"She thinks you're mad at her," K told him quietly while they waited for the kids to return.

"Good. Maybe she'll try harder to pull her head out before she gets hurt," Logan replied.

"She's a good student; she just lacks… what's the phrase? Common senses, yes?" Noh said.

"Yeah, that's close enough," Logan said with a nod, and K made a point to try and settle him out a bit before he could bite anyone else's head off.

By the time the junior squad — and Clint — arrived at the bridge, they were just about ready to make their approach, and Noh had taken over flying the ship for the time being to get them through the temporary opening. Kate was standing behind him watching a bit nervously, and Clint tipped his head K's way.

"What kinda landing we making?" he asked.

"Well, I was expecting something slick and on the down low that no one will see, but …" K paused and shot Clint a grin. "Our dramatic shimmering sparkle bonanza is flying, so …. Maybe hockey stop, sideways skid and burst out guns ablazing? Would that make you feel better?"

"K, I'll take whatever landing we get long as we walk away from it and you can point me to where Tasha is," Clint said, though he was smirking the slightest bit her way.

"Jana said you guys had a plan?" Cassie offered, and it didn't escape K's notice that the older girl was half standing in front of Jana, so she had likely noticed that Jana was a bit thrown off by getting snapped at by Logan.

"Yeah, real simple," Logan said her way, though he looked ready to tear the planet apart himself. "You guys follow Stark. He's gonna take you to where most of our friends are. The four of us..." he said, gesturing to himself, Noh, K, and Tommy, "...are headed to Rachel. For now."

"With a little luck, that'll be the end of it — but if it doesn't work out, we'll head your way fast," K promised. "Find our guys and get them freed."

"How come they're separated?" Brye asked. "I mean ... why just her?"

"Our best guess is the Shi'ar want to publicly execute the Phoenix," Logan said frankly. "There's a lot of bad blood there — from long before the Phoenix chose Rachel for a host."

"That could be bad," Tyler said with a little frown.

"And … the last time we had Phoenix issues this big ... " Logan looked down a bit and shook his head. "Let's not repeat that."

"So we'll get there before it gets out of hand," Kate called out from where she was helping Noh navigate. "Have a little faith."

"Yeah, I'm tryin', Chicken Hawk," he replied. "Just trying to prep for if there  _needs_ to be a repeat."

"And anyway, you kids'll be with me," Tony put in. "We're rounding up the rest of the team. And Ty — I'm probably gonna need your help with fixing them up, so stick close. If we can get everyone on their feet and up to snuff, this will go much faster and smoother."

"Until then — quiet please," Noh called over his shoulder. "I'm trying to concentrate."

Kate smirked his way for a second and then leaned back over his shoulder to help with the navigation as the little blue and white ship carefully snuck behind enemy lines.


	8. Like The Romans, But With More Tech

Once Noh's ship was as well-hidden as it was possible for a Kree ship in Shi'ar territory to be, both he and Tommy met up with Logan and K to head for the capital city.

"Keep your eyes peeled," Noh advised Tommy as he simply scooped up Logan to carry him off at high speeds. "The Shi'ar are not unused to high-speed attacks, so don't expect them to be surprised by our arrival."

"Just watch out for yourself,  _Dad_ ," Tommy replied, rolling his eyes as K hopped up on his back, and the two speedsters rushed off at once — with Tommy outstripping the Kree fighter and skidding to a stop. K beamed at having won the impromptu race, though the grin died a bit when they realized just how many Shi'ar there were.

"Well, time to work," K said in a whisper in Tommy's ear before she slid down and pulled him into better cover. He'd picked a good spot, and they could easily see what was happening on the makeshift stage where the Shi'ar had Rachel bound. She wasn't the only one, either — the God of Thunder was bound and unconscious beside her. And on her other side, Scott was tied and not looking so good — his shirt still torn open from where Creed had ripped into him, the half-healed injuries still bright red even from where they were.

"To quote a friend of mine," Noh said as he and Logan arrived a few moments later, "this looks bad."

"I've seen worse," Logan replied.

"Then let's not wait for it to get to that point, shall we?" Noh replied as the four of them quietly circled around to get a better angle of approach.

A massive crowd was gathered around the raised platform, jeers and insults echoing the streets as the Shi'ar made their hatred of the Phoenix known. And even far out as they were, the four rescuers could see that Rachel had fire in her gaze, though she looked like she was working hard to contain it, her teeth gritted against the power that wanted to escape. It was obvious Scott was saying something to her. He looked incredibly pale, and not just from blood loss. But whatever it was Scott wanted to tell Rachel was getting drowned out by one of the Shi'ar on the platform whipping the crowd up.

"What's the creep saying?" Tommy whispered to K. "Can any of you guys hear from this far out or … or understand Shi'ar?"

"More or less he's saying she is a crime against nature and the Shi'ar Empire. Which … probably to them makes more sense," K said. "To dangerous to exist. Whatever."

"Crimes against nature are the same as crimes against the empire in their mind," Noh said with his lip slightly curled.

"But they were fine dropping Creed on me? I call bullshit," K said with a little growl

"Are you trying to apply logic to the  _Shi'ar_?" Noh asked, unable to quite stop to little smug smirk at the thought.

"Nope, just pointing out the painfully obvious," K said with a little matching smirk as Logan told them both to be quiet and get ready to move.

"I'm thinking claws to the face on whoever's holding our friends before they can make their move here," Logan muttered.

"And then can I blow up the whole stage?" Tommy asked with a crooked grin. "Ple-ease?"

"Go for it, kid," Logan replied with a nod.

Tommy nodded and pushed his hands out in front of him to crack his knuckles. "Perfect. I like this plan already."

"We can throw you both to the stage if you want — and meet you there," Noh offered. "I have excellent aim."

"That's not a bad plan of attack," Logan said with a nod.

At that, Noh and Tommy shared a look, and in a second, each of the speedsters had swept up a partner to pitch toward the stage — Logan at the Shi'ar soldiers holding Rachel and K toward Scott — before Noh and Tommy zipped down after them and actually beat them to the stage.

"Show's over, folks!" Tommy called out cheerfully as he threw out both hands and sent shockwaves down the streets that had the assembled crowd tripping over themselves at the small earthquake.

Noh had gone straight for the guy in charge of the whole thing and knocked him to the ground, though before he could really get started wailing on the Imperial Shi'ar, a war cry started up from around them as several Shi'ar rushed the stage. The whole thing had Noh on edge as he was already struggling with the Imperial Shi'ar in his grasp, the two trading blows hard and fast as they hissed and screeched at each other.

Logan had managed to find himself more or less surrounded, since as soon as he was spotted, the Shi'ar cranked up the security around Rachel. He'd worked up enough of a reputation with them that they knew better than to trust that he wouldn't do  _something._  He was fighting his way through them as K tried to simultaneously keep the guards away from Scott and Thor — and get close enough herself to cut them loose from the shackles they had on them.

Which was a rude awakening, to say the least, for Scott. He had been losing steam, barely conscious and still badly hurt from Creed's initial attack on top of the Shi'ar treatment of their prisoners — but he quickly jerked nearly upright when he realized very quickly that Logan was charging toward Rachel. He had his claws out and was looking every bit as bloodthirsty as Scott had ever seen him — all while Rachel finally started to let the Phoenix out to play as her shackles disintegrated and the flames engulfed her as she started to rise up.

It was so familiar that Scott could feel the bottom drop out of his stomach, and what little blood was left in his face drained as he nearly swayed on the spot.

"Logan — Rachel — NO!"

At the very last moment, and only at the very last moment, Logan stuck — his target wasn't Rachel, but the guard that had raised a weapon to try and shoot her. Instead of ramming his claws into Rachel, he absolutely tore into the guard and two others that came to his aide — more or less ignoring Rachel's fiery rise.

"O-kay then. I'll just get this one," Tommy said as he headed for Scott, zipping past the guards to vibrate the shackles holding the X-Men's leader until they burst open.

"It's okay," K called out toward Scott before she finally headed over to Thor and cut him loose. "They just … they're kind of asking for it."

"You can't let her … if the Phoenix…" Scott looked very panicked even as Tommy tried to steady her.

"And short of killing her, what do you want me to do?" K asked as she stepped back from Thor — who had one hand out and a scowl on his face as he waited for Mjolnir to make its way to him. "Because I don't want to do that. Neither does Logan. I think she can handle it."

"She can, but the Shi'ar…" Scott shook his head. "She and the Phoenix both have scores to settle here."

"Then we should get everyone we care about  _out_ and let them settle their score," K said reasonably. "We can pick her up when she's done razing the place."

"That's not a good idea," Noh called out as he finally separated the Imperial Shi'ar's head from the rest of him and took a moment to catch his breath.

"Why not?" K asked as she dove back into the fight, splattering blood across the stage. "My inner Viking concurs with this assessment. The lawyer agrees… That doesn't happen too often."

"You are making the same mistake as Jana — you have not  _done your research_ ," Noh insisted.

"Actually, I read all about it, and for as much trouble as these jerks cause everyone? I don't see why not. Not when Rachel has been able to control it," K argued. "I'm on her side."

"She's never let it loose like that," Scott argued. "And the Phoenix won't stop with  _just_ this planet if it's freed." He had his gaze on Rachel despite the heat of the argument, and it was the first time K had really seen him that  _scared_. "This is exactly the kind of anger it needs to  _take her over_ …"

"Okay then," K said, nodding her understanding as she slipped over to take over for Tommy on helping Scott, looking more concerned for him when he wasn't looking her way. "You need to go to the ship, big guy. Let Noh, Logan, and Tommy give some back up to the kids. Thor and I will keep an eye on her, and he can whip me up there if it needs to be done."

"I'm not going anywhere without Rachel," Scott insisted stubbornly.

"Well, I can't protect you and watch her," K said. "And you look like hell warmed over."

"Then don't worry about protecting me — just get me up  _to her_."

K let out a sigh and looked around the area. "There's a vantage point you might be able to use," she said before she looked to Noh. "What do you think, star child?"

Noh frowned but had to nod. "Yes, that could work." He leaned over to K and added very softly, "But you should call me if things… turn south."

"If things go south, I'll have Thor to help me put a stop to it," K promised.

"His hammer can damage the Phoenix. We found this out when I faced it last, when I took a piece of it."

"Perfect," K said. "He can try to stop her from going totally overboard ... and if that fails, then we have the  _other_ failsafe."

"Call me  _before_  then, and I'll remove Scott bodily if I have to," he whispered low.

"Alright," she said with a nod. "Be safe."

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "You too," he said before he and Tommy zipped off — with Tommy simply throwing Logan over his shoulder on the way without really asking, grinning delightedly at getting away with it, too.

* * *

The rest of the rescue squad had headed in the opposite direction from the four who went to the capital city, following Tony's instructions as they rushed to find their friends — with both Hawkeyes much quieter than usual as they were clearly anxious to find their respective partners.

The city itself was almost as large as the capital, and with their much bigger group, it was more difficult to hide in the shadows and keep out of sight. So it was almost inevitable when a Shi'ar soldier spotted them and sounded the alarm.

But the Shi'ar hadn't ever met the junior squad, and they weren't prepared for when Sophia cleared her throat and sang out: " _Nobody move! Everyone be still and silent!_ "

The change was instant and almost palpable as everyone — Avenger, X-Man, and Shi'ar — froze on the spot. Sophia looked around at the frozen people and let out a little nervous giggle. "Oh, I'm really glad that worked. Okay." She turned to the rescue group. " _If you're an X-Man or Avenger, you can move and speak now_ —  _but everyone else stay still and silent._ "

"Yeah, more specific to start with next time?" Tony requested with a  _look_ her way of total disbelief.

"That was faster," Sophia said with a little shrug. "And I got you back out of it, didn't I?"

"I really gotta do something about that," he muttered to himself.

"Same concept as the Purple Man, only she's not evil and she sings like a Disney princess," Kate explained quietly as they made their way through the now incredibly still streets. "And it wears her out the more people she uses it on," she added, nodding toward the scale-covered young woman as Brye tossed her a water bottle to keep her hydrated and on her feet. The longer the two of them were dating, the more automatic the response was from Brye to help Sophia; it was really cute, actually.

"Doesn't make it any less freaky," Tony called out.

"Gifted, you mean," Brye called back without hesitation. "And sexy."

"No, no. I  _meant_ freaky."

"It's a good thing I'm not evil, or I'd tell you to shut up too," Sophia called out, earning a laugh and a kiss from Brye as they continued to follow Tony toward where Noh's ship had found Peter.

The signal seemed to be coming from what was more or less the center of the city — a large, pillared building that seemed to be the end point of all the roads leading into the area — and Cassie frowned a bit as they got closer. "That looks hard to break into," she said.

"Hard, but not impossible," Clint said as he looked up at the nearly Roman-esque structure and pulled out a grappling arrow and took aim. "Need a better view."

"I'll come with you," Tammy offered, following behind him as he latched the arrow onto the top of the structure.

He looked her up and down for a moment. "Stick close, do what I say, and if I say run, don't hesitate," he told her, and it was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that he didn't have a hint of a joke to his tone.

She blinked at him for a long moment and then nodded quickly, following him up as he zipped up the side of the building with his grappling arrow, and the two blondes perched carefully at the top, staying out of sight of anyone inside.

If it hadn't been for the flashing signs, the technology laced throughout the place, and the dome top made of thick plexiglass — or the Shi'ar form of it anyway — the place would have looked like an ancient Roman colosseum. It was clear this was the entertainment center of the city, and it had the same viewing design as the Kree trials did, with raised seating and floating platforms as the spectators currently in the building seemed to be watching what was happening in the capital city on the various screens.

Tammy's eyes widened, and Clint swore under his breath as the two of them saw the large display of their three friends in the capital — but once they'd seen just how bad things were for Rachel, Scott, and Thor, Clint put a hand on Tammy's shoulder and redirected her attention, looking not for the big spectacle but for entrances and chinks in the building's armor.

"Looks like most of their attention is to keeping prisoners  _in_ , not keeping us out," Clint said. "Which is good for us."

Tammy nodded and looked around the crowd. "I don't think Sophia can freeze this many people at once," she muttered.

"Nope," Clint agreed. "But we might be able to get in through the gladiator entrances. If this place is anything like the Roman coliseums … there'll be non-public entry and exits."

Tammy nodded again and tried to follow his gaze. "Do you think there's anything underneath? I've seen that in movies too, but I don't know how historically accurate they are…."

"They had to have a way to get the gladiators and the lions and stuff into the arena without crossing paths with too many spectators. Besides, I think these guys are a lot more advanced than the Romans were."

"Just a little," she said with a little smirk, and Clint grinned her way for a second, seeming to wait for her before she spotted a smaller door near the floor of the arena. "There?" she asked, and he grinned and nodded.

"Now all we've gotta do is follow it back and get in that way," he explained, moving across the top of the building to get a different vantage point so he could do just that, pointing with two fingers as he narrowed his eyes and followed the curve of the building…. "Yeah, should be an entrance right there," he said, pointing toward the outer wall of the building as he was already headed back down. "C'mon, kiddo — you did great."

Once the two of them got down to where the others were, Clint jumped right into showing them where the side entrance should be. Still, the junior squad couldn't help but exchange a few glances when they arrived where Clint had pointed out, as it didn't look like much until both Clint and Tony ran their hands over the edges of the wall and found the access panel.

Tony looked over the encryption for a moment and almost laughed. "Piece of cake," he said — and a few moments later, the hidden door swung open.

Both Hawkeyes brushed past Tony, ready to get moving and get their friends  _out_. The tunnels that ran underneath the arena were surprisingly well-kept and high-tech — and both Clint and Kate were kept fairly busy shooting out cameras and detection devices the whole way down.

"I don't know why, but I was expecting more… dirt and lions," Tammy whispered, though in the silent tunnels, her voice echoed a bit and had Clint snorting quietly.

"Don't worry, Spartacus; we'll find you something," he teased over his shoulder before the group of them rounded the corner and were greeted almost immediately by the sharp sound of snarls and snapping teeth.

The creature just behind the glowing energy bars was  _massive_  — its head alone was at least as tall as Tony was, with a hinged jaw that was obvious to see as it snapped at the group of them, all teeth and fury. It had a long, slimy neck that could probably reach through the bars if the power wasn't turned fully up, and all four feet had sharp talons the length of Tyler's arms.

The rescue party took a few steps back on seeing the giant snapping creature, though when it was clear it couldn't reach them, they proceeded cautiously — all except Brye, who tipped her head at the widely opened mouth and rows of teeth before she let out a little  _tsk_.

"I know they've been starving you, but if you calm down, you can eat them when I let you out," she told the creature as if she was having a perfectly reasonable conversation with it.

When it responded with a low hiss and snap of its jaws, she put her hands on her hips. "No, I am  _not_ lying. Do you see me locking anybody up? We're here to let people  _out_ , not put them in."

"Sweet pea, what the actual hell are you doing?" Tony asked, eyes wide. "That thing is going to eat you up in a heartbeat if you even think about letting it out."

"No, he won't, will you?" Brye insisted in a gentle voice as she got closer to the energy bars and tried to figure out what the kill switch was. "He wants to eat Shi'ar. There's a few big crunchy ones that are… ohhh crap they're coming down the hall, he says."

"Down the hall now? Like where we are?" Tony asked as he glanced down the way they'd come. "How sure are you that he won't eat us?"

Brye looked over the creature for a moment, who was no longer snapping at her and was just  _watching_ her. "Um. Me? Pretty darn sure. You guys ... maybe take a step or nine back."

"Tell him not to eat the non-Shi'ar and I'll blast the locks on the energy bars so he can eat those crunchy jerks."

Brye nodded. "My friend here is going to let you out, okay? So don't eat anyone here — just Shi'ar, please." When the creature kept staring at her, she held its gaze and didn't look away as she said to Tony, "Okay. Let's try it."

"Try it, she says," Tony muttered as he held up one hand and the repulsor in his palm started up the telltale whine, though he made sure to prep his shock charges — all of them — should Brye be wrong. "Here goes nothing," he said before he fired a quick blast at the locks and the generators that kept the door energized.

As soon as the energy died, the creature sprang forward to squeeze itself through, its slimy body surprisingly flexible as it all but spilled into the hallway, a low echoing roar sounding in their ears as it turned to face them for a moment. But instead of gulping any of them up, it met Brye's gaze, and she positively  _giggled_.

"Ooh, yes, that would be fun," she told the creature, and before anyone could stop her, she sprang up to climb onto its head behind its hinged jaws, grinning madly before she and the creature sped off toward the incoming guards, the sound of roaring and giggling echoing back to them.

"I think you have to be insane to join the junior squad. That's part of the contract, isn't it?" Clint muttered under his breath to Kate, who just smirked.

"I think you have to be insane to join the team at all. Let's go get the rest of the nuthouse, shall we?" Tony replied before he swore a bit about nutsy mutant kids and shot down the corridor toward the center spectacle.

It wasn't the quiet infiltration that they had been doing before as the group made their way further inside — since the creature's escape had set off alarms. Though it  _was_ helpful that the guards were more concerned about their alien pet's escape than anything else — so most of the guards rushed past them without looking around the corners, as the creature wasn't likely to be found hiding in shadows or small spaces.

They were very nearly to about the center of the arena, by Clint's reckoning — though underneath it, of course — when one of the Shi'ar guards finally spotted them. The guy was way bigger than the usual Shi'ar — his armor looked almost decorative — and the war cry he let out rattled their teeth as he sprang toward the group and called for others to do the same.

"Now  _this_ is something I can do," Rico said as he scurried past the older heroes to all but pounce on the huge Shi'ar fighter, using his tail as a blunt force instrument to his advantage against the huge guy as more of them poured in and the rest of the team got to work.

" _You Shi'ar are very sleepy_ ," Sophia sang out, a little higher-pitched than usual as she all but scrambled away from an approaching Shi'ar fighter and hid behind Tyler, who burst forward to start pounding on the guy to keep him away from Sophia. It was enough to get the fighters to slow down, but they were still rather ferocious and downright  _big_ , even with several of Kate and Clint's arrows in them.

Tony was trying to keep out of reach as he flitted around them, shooting off all sorts of different and amazing shockers and missiles and some really wild just that seemed to knock entire lines of Shi'ar backward off their feet twenty yards at a shot. "Hey, this isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Tony called out. "Is it just me or do we need music?"

"Probably just you," Jana said. She had slipped behind Tony with a tiny little Cassie in her hands as the two girls headed for a door that looked like it might lead outside. Cassie shrank down even further and slipped into one of the panels, and a moment later, the door opened — not to more Shi'ar but to a surprised-looking Noh, Logan, and Tommy.

"I hadn't even finished rerouting the control panel," Noh said, looking a bit proud as Cassie and Jana waved them in to join the fight.

"Great timing, Noh — Tony was just asking for a soundtrack," Kate called over to him, and Noh looked  _delighted_.

"We want music then, yeah?" Tony said as he hovered for a moment. "Doubt we have the same tastes though, sparkle prince ... or … whatever."

"Noh-Varr will do," he said with a smirk. "And you never know — I've been exploring all sorts of genres. Try me."

"Well, they were doing that stupid battle cry thing? So I think a little hard rock is in order."

Noh grinned. "All the better if it disrupts that cry of theirs," he agreed.

A moment later, Tony kicked off the playlist he'd been listening to in the suit on his own — a classic mix of everything from Black Sabbath to Guns N Roses — and it did seem to have some ill effects on the Shi'ar. Which only had the rest of the heroes grinning that much wider as they dove in to tear apart some aliens.


	9. Out Of The Frying Pan ...

The group of Avengers and X-Men blasted, punched, and sliced their way through the Shi'ar until the battle spilled out into the arena itself, back through the same door Noh and Logan had entered and out into the middle of the large dome. The gathered spectators shouted out their disapproval but also seemed to be torn between the fight below them and the one on the screen as K, Thor, Rachel were simply tearing through the capital city.

At their arrival, far more Shi'ar fighters poured into the arena — many of them similarly clad in decorative armor. They were clearly more or less the gladiators of the area, huge and loud and hard to stop even as Tony's playlist just kept going above the sound of their war cry.

The group of rescuers were quickly surrounded by Shi'ar, though the advantage here was that they had a little more room to stretch than when they were in the tunnels. Kate and Clint could pull out some of their explosive arrows and trick shots now that they were a little more spread out, and Cassie didn't hesitate to go giant to just start crushing Shi'ar with fists and feet. Noh and Tommy both were speeding through the field and seemed to be working in tandem, calling out to each other on which clumps of Shi'ar they wanted to take for themselves. Tyler and Logan were tearing into Shi'ar left and right, while Tammy had helped Sophia get close enough to one of the gladiators that he could hear her singing to him to turn on his fellows. And Hisako seemed to be honestly enjoying herself as she fought alongside Cassie.

Rico was teamed up with Jana and trying to watch out for the youngest of their group as best he could, but he took a solid hit and went sprawling away from her. Jana spun to see what had happened and then gasped when she saw the Shi'ar who had hit Rico. She was good at self-defense, really — and she'd been working hard in her classes — but this guy was simply  _huge_ and grabbed both of her hands in one of his, pitching her across the arena.

She was sure she was headed for the pit in the center of the arena when someone grabbed the back of her uniform and pulled her back to solid ground.

She gasped in a breath and turned to see Logan and she couldn't help but look surprised as she muttered out a quick, "Thanks."

"Keep away from the big ones — you haven't learned that stuff yet," he told her before he dove right for the guy that had thrown her. She watched him go for a second and realized quickly she needed to look away a split second before his claws made contact with the center of the guy's head.

When she looked away, though, it was to look down into the pit that she'd almost been thrown into, and she let out a gasp of both surprise and relief when she saw who was in it. "Guys! I found them!" she called out over the comms, mentally running through who all was missing besides the three on the television screens. "It's everyone but Scott — do we know where he is?"

"He's with K," Noh said over the comms. "I'm not sure where he is, since he's not on screen, but he's with them."

"How's everyone looking, kiddo?" Clint asked, and though he likely thought he sounded calm, it was clear he was worried even over the comms.

"Um. They're in a pit ... it's kinda hard to see down there, but…" Jana examined the edges for a moment and flattened herself as she tried to get a better view. "Tied up, it looks like."

"Noh, you can run down there," Logan said. "Go take a peek. See what you need."

Noh paused in tearing apart the Shi'ar around them and glanced Logan's way with a sharp nod before he ran past Jana and straight down the side of the pit, where the rest of their teammates were.

Their captured teammates were, in fact, bound and looking rather worse for the wear, though Noh didn't know how much of that was from the fight at the mansion. He of course went right to Jubilee to wrap her up in a tight hug and kiss her quickly, half carrying her around as he looked over the others, who seemed surprised — and a little relieved — at his sudden appearance. "Clint, if I could borrow you or Logan for a little lock picking," he called up, looking over his bound friends.

"Collars?" Logan asked as he and Clint shared a look.

"The Shi'ar equivalent thereof," Noh agreed.

"I'm on it," Logan said before he slipped over the edge of the pit and more or less just fell straight down, using his claws to slow his descent against the wall. He went straight to Jubilee and cut her restraints off before he started going down the group one by one, ending with Kurt, who had kept pushing others ahead of him.

"It's good to see you, Logan," Kurt said with a little smile. "Who else came?"

"The ones you'd expect — and the junior team," he replied. "Got Stark with us too."

"The junior squad came with?" Bobby raised both eyebrows high.

"Well, most of 'em," he replied. "You have a debt to repay when we get back, popsicle."

"Me? What did  _I_ do?"

"I had to bribe Leslie Ann to not follow. We're taking 'er on a little trip when we get back."

"She'll be ready to face anything by the time you're through with her," Natasha said with a little smirk Logan's way.

" _You_  were," he countered with a matching smirk.

"Thus proving my point," she said, glancing up at the edge of the pit for a moment. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"

Bobby started up an ice pillar that took those that couldn't fly up while Storm simply lifted up in flight. Kurt teleported up as well and was almost immediately mobbed by several bamfs who were clearly happy to see their big brother alright.

"How'd you guys find us, anyway?" Peter asked Jana as she was waiting at the edge of the pit to offer a hand up to anyone who needed or wanted it — and she couldn't help but smirk his way.

"Actually, we just found you and went from there," she said. "Noh scanned for your life signs."

Peter let out an exaggerated shudder and patted his hands over himself. "I feel violated. Should I feel violated?"

Jana rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be such a baby," she told him, and he grinned outright at her and burst into action alongside her, his web-shooters gone but the super strength coming in handy as he tossed one of the Shi'ar gladiators into the bit.

"See you  _you_ like it!" Peter called down after the falling Shi'ar, and Jana couldn't help but snort.

The battle in the coliseum was building as the main forces of the X-Men started the offensive on the Shi'ar that had started to pour in around them from the spectator stands — unwilling to allow their prisoners to simply walk away from what was to be a punishment of death.

Logan was in a much better mood now that they at least had their friends out of the hole... when he got hit with some new weapon that seemed to act a lot like the Kree stasis fields. But unlike the Accuser weapons, whoever was in it was certainly not simply frozen to the spot — not without electrifying pain, that is. When Logan hit the ground, several Shi'ar rushed in and simply started tearing into him while he was still stunned.

"Thieves and cowards stealing and bending Kree technology — scavengers and cretins," Noh was muttering, falling into Kree; his invectives became more creative as he rushed to help Logan, though Peter and Jana were closest and rushed to help as well.

And above them, Storm was finally starting to get the feel of the alien atmosphere, bending its odd weather patterns to her will with devastating results that the Shi'ar clearly were not used to coping with — hurricane-force winds and driving rain amid the carefully aimed lighting strikes, though one was bound to go wide.

The rough wind was enough to help drive back the rush of Shi'ar that had come after Logan, and Noh picked up the stunned Wolverine with a shuddering gasp as some of the electricity from the Shi'ar weapon moved through him as well before he got Logan to a different corner of the arena and worked quickly to disable the field as best he could. He had pushed aside the pain to his audio cortex, but his hands were still shaking; the weapon seemed to be designed to keep someone from rescuing whoever was trapped in it.

When at last the field dropped, Logan was still completely out and looking fairly torn up — the metal in his bones an unfortunately excellent conductor for this kind of Shi'ar device. And Noh wasn't doing too well, either, the electrical overload required more healing than he had food reserves to do at the moment. So neither looked that good when Peter and Jana rushed over to defend their friends.

"Oh, ouch," Peter said, wincing hard when he saw how Logan was torn up.

"We got this," Jana assured Noh, settling into a fighting stance that had both Peter and Noh glancing at each other and looking a bit proud of the little teenager.

Across the arena, Clint had found Natasha and just about dropped everything to run over to her and kiss the living daylights out of her, which had her laughing at him.

"What, were you worried about me?" she teased him as, as soon as the kiss broke, the two of them fell into their familiar back-to-back fighting style.

"I never worry about you. That's a waste of energy," he said in a tone that anyone nearby heard and knew that it was a rote response.

"That's too bad. If you were worried, I was going to have to ease your mind."

"He-ey." Clint turned to Natasha and shook his head at her. "That's mean."

"I'm not known for playing clean," she pointed out with a smirk before she snuck a little kiss and the two of them burst forward together to help fight the Shi'ar.

There was a rumbling noise near where Remy was fighting alongside Kate and Kurt — who were surprisingly not sporting the same level of PDA as the other Hawkeye, though that might have been because they had their hands full. In an instant, the rumbling turned into a roar as Brye hit the battlefield with her new monster friend, still clinging onto his head and looking like she was having the  _time of her life_.

Remy let out a string of Cajun invectives when he saw the huge beast, and Kurt had quickly teleported out of its path to grab Kate as well and get her out of the way — though Kate was grinning as she watched Brye and her new friend cut a wide swath through the Shi'ar.

"The real problem here will be that she'll ask if she can take him home with her," Kate told Kurt with a troublemaking grin.

"And from the way Remy is swearing, I'm not sure if he's horrified or wondering if it would be good in the gumbo," Kurt teased.

"Oh, both. Obviously," Kate agreed with a grin as she started to fire into the now scattering Shi'ar who were running from Brye and her friend.

Meanwhile, overhead, Tammy and Tony were proving to be a pretty good team. Tammy was able to toss soldiers and hold them back and generally make them easier targets for Iron Man's weaponry, and Tony made sure to keep half an eye on the junior X-Man and make sure she didn't get hit while she was exposed in the air.

He had just turned to tease her when his armor made him dart out of the way of incoming artillery — and right into the path of modified blaster bolts that managed to get around Tony's detection system. In an instant, he'd lost control of his navigation and stabilization systems — and he was quickly losing altitude in a downward spiral for the dirt.

"Oh, crap!" Tammy gasped and simply dove after Tony, reaching out a hand to slow his uncontrolled descent so that it wouldn't be as much of a shock when she stopped him and then scooped him out of the air, one hand still extended as she stopped just short of actually picking him up herself. She set him down on the ground gently and then landed beside him with a concerned frown. "You okay in there?" When she got no response, she started to panic and called out for help.

Clint was the closest to her position, and he and Natasha made their way over to where Tammy was crouched by the downed Iron Man and still holding back Shi'ar forces telekinetically to keep him from taking any further damage.

Clint looked over the scene and quickly crouched down beside Tammy to make sure she was alright too while Natasha pried open Tony's face plate, frowning as she checked him over until she gave Tony a little  _look_  and smacked him on both cheeks. "Wake up, you idiot. You scared the new bride," she told him sternly before she looked up at Tammy with a reassuring smile. "He's fine; he was just knocked out."

Clint glanced over too and nodded, patting Tammy's shoulder. "Just dazed. Would have been a lot worse if you hadn't caught him. You okay, though?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wasn't sure—" Tammy swallowed and nodded as she got to her feet and knocked over a line of Shi'ar soldiers with a glare. "I'm fine. I've got this," she told the two Avengers as she took up a position beside the still-dazed Iron Man.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Kurt was getting progressively angrier as he grimly tore into the Shi'ar. He'd been in a good mood, but once he saw that both Logan and Tony were out, he got a lot more serious about making them suffer. Kate was right beside him as much as possible, her own sword in play as the two of them all but danced through Shi'ar together.

Kurt whipped into a graceful backward somersault, swords singing through the air, and when he landed, he got one sword into a Shi'ar guard that had just hit Rico backward a few steps — when a second one seemed to appear nearly out of thin air and stabbed him from behind.

Kate screamed out when she saw what had happened and didn't hesitate to run the offending Shi'ar through, though she was exposed as she tried to catch Kurt as best she could and very nearly was run through herself before Rico tackled the guy from behind and pounded on him until he stopped moving. When he turned back to Kate, she was clearly upset beyond words as she looked over Kurt, and Rico's eyes went wide as he saw the little bamfs hopping around and looking  _very_ concerned as well.

"Tyler, I think we could use a hand here," Rico called out, though before he got the chance to say much more, the bamfs glanced at him and decided they agreed with his assessment, taking all three of them to a spot much closer to where Tyler was surrounded by a small knot of Shi'ar so that Rico could jump in to help him fight his way through and get to where Kate had Kurt's head in her lap and her bow in her hands, shooting back anyone who looked like they might come close to try and finish off her injured husband.

It was clear that the MVP for this battle was quickly going to Storm as she simply flattened any Shi'ar she looked at with the winds and rain — and those that weren't convinced to retreat with that were either swept up in a tornado or struck with lightning in a most spectacular fashion. Which made it that much more terrifying for all those paying attention when the winds upticked for a second then fell completely flat as the Shi'ar managed to hit Storm with the same twisted stasis field they'd used on Logan.

She dropped fast, though Bobby managed to catch her as he skated underneath her. But he quickly realized that the stasis field was more than just that when he got hit hard with the same thing Noh had, and the two of them fell the remaining few feet when Bobby's ice shattered beneath them. Hank rushed over to where the two of them had fallen, meaning three more senior X-Men were now down or otherwise occupied.

"Take out the creeps with those stupid … whatever the heck they are!" Peter shouted out in a clearly half panicked tone.

The kids on the junior team — and the few senior squad members that were left — turned their attention to the Shi'ar with the field generators, though it was Cassie who found the easiest way to deal with it, simply stepping on the devices and crushing them beneath her feet, though she let out a loud gasp and had a serious limp after she'd crushed the generators, with that leg almost completely numb.

As soon as the stasis fields were out of play, Tommy zipped over to where Jubilee and Remy were colorfully exploding Shi'ar left and right. "I think it's time to bring the house down," he told the two of them.

"Do your thing," Jubes said. "I want to get everyone out of here before this gets much worse."

Tommy nodded his agreement. "I'll be back to explode things with you to cover our exit," he promised the two of them before he zipped off to start blasting Shi'ar back from the injured members of their team so he could get them out of the arena.

The junior squad was fighting better than they ever had before — likely because they were fighting for the first time for their lives together. Tammy was blowing back waves of soldiers; Brye and her new friend were a terror unto themselves; Hisako and Cassie were once again proving to be a  _giant_ problem for bad guys; Rico and Tyler were bashing their way through anyone that got close; and even little Jana and Sophia were fighting better than they had before, with Sophia turning Shi'ar soldiers to their cause and Jana stubbornly defending the fallen Wolverine with every trick she could remember from her classes.

At the peak of the battle, as the junior team was doing a fine job of holding back the Shi'ar from the wounded senior members and the half-crippled Iron Man, the din of the battle fell to the wayside as the piercing cry of the Phoenix echoed over the city. Everyone in the arena paused to look toward where the sound had come — only to see the massive firebird in the night sky, far larger than life and imposing even at such a distance.

"We need to get out of here  _now_!" Noh shouted over the comms. "Tommy, get everyone to the ship.  _Fast_."

Tommy had already swept Storm up into a bridal-style carry as soon as Hank and Forge had figured out how to disable the electrical stasis device and shot a look over at Hank. "Like I wasn't doing that already?" he pointed out before he sped off with the injured weather goddess — and the bamfs joined in the evacuation effort, teleporting their injured or unconscious friends while the junior squad did their best to hold back the Shi'ar in the meantime.

Though that job had become a bit easier, since the Shi'ar were all in a solid state of panic at seeing the Phoenix in full fire when she was supposed to have been executed. It was now more a matter of just scattering them than anything else — and Brye and her new friend were thoroughly enjoying themselves at that task.

So it was really just bad luck that Jana didn't see the Shi'ar soldier who decided to take an angry potshot at her, and she let out a little 'oof' of surprise and pain when she took the shot to her shoulder and was knocked nearly flat by it.

A moment later, a couple of the bamfs appeared, looking concerned for both her and Logan, though she simply gritted her teeth at them. "Take him back quick," she insisted. "He's knocked out."

The little guys chattered at her, and one of them even lightly smacked her in the head before, in a poof of smoke, she found herself on Noh's ship — with Logan arriving later with a couple of bamfs who didn't look the least bit apologetic even as Jana read them the riot act for not listening to her.

With Tommy and the bamfs working on concert, then, it wasn't long before everyone from the arena had reached the ship — and now, it was simply a matter of rescuing those who were in the capital city.


	10. ... And Into The Phoenix Fire

Back in the Shi'ar capital city, Thor had gotten hold of Mjolnir again, and as soon as that happened, he and K were fighting underneath Rachel's rising form to teach the Shi'ar a lesson for daring to capture him.

K hadn't ever seen Thor so  _mad_  before. Usually, he seemed to enjoy battles and was full of words of encouragement for his companions, but the Asgardian prince had  _not_ taken well to the attempted public humiliation, and he was letting it be known as he sent his hammer through dozens of soldiers at a time. And once he had a little better grasp of the atmosphere around them, he was also calling down lightning, the sparks reflected in the fury in his gaze as well.

K was keeping pace with the angry Asgardian, too, slashing and stabbing through Shi'ar soldiers left and right as, above them both, Rachel was just getting warmed up.

Last K had seen, Scott was on a rooftop, waiting for Rachel to get to a height that he could reach her, though she wasn't entirely sure that he was even conscious still. He looked pretty pale when they'd parted company.

"Thor, if you can't get there ... you know what we gotta do, right?" K called out. The fire was starting to tear apart the buildings around them, and no matter where they stood, the wind seemed to be in their faces as they looked up at her.

"Aye, I've clipped its wings before," Thor said with a nod.

"Just don't take too much out of yourself that you can't get me up there."

"Don't worry yourself on my behalf, my friend," Thor said with the beginnings of a confident little grin. "Worry for our friend Rachel instead; it is a much better placed use of your energies."

"You are my favorite Norse God, you know that, right?" she teased as she turned to go see if Scott was alright. The Shi'ar were already falling back en masse, so all they really had left to concern themselves with was Rachel.

When K did find Scott, he was still pale but determinedly trying to get Rachel's attention, all but pleading with her to get the Phoenix back under control before she went too far. "Rachel,  _please_!" he shouted her way. "I know you can fight it — better than anyone. You're stronger than it is — stronger than me or anyone else.  _Fight it!_ "

"You're gonna need to get out of here if this keeps up," K tried to tell Scott gently as she crouched down next to him.

He shrugged away from her and shot her a glare. "I'm not going anywhere," he told her before he went right back into half-pleading with Rachel, shouting aloud and telepathically as well.

K let out a little breath and got a bit closer to him. "Then at least let me help you stand up straight so she can see you," she told him.

He regarded her for a moment and nodded the slightest bit, though he was sure to repeat, "I'm not going anywhere,"as an extra means of emphasizing his point.

"Neither am I," she replied. "And I'm perfect crutch height for you."

He couldn't help but give her a bit of a dry look at that. "She can control it," Scott told her confidently. "She's been able to for so long."

"I know," K agreed. "I was the one making that argument earlier to Logan and Noh."

"Just remember that," Scott said her way as he leaned on K a bit to get closer to Rachel, still shouting for Rachel to get control, to fight against the Phoenix force, and anything else he could think of. "It's done — you're safe; I'm safe — we can go  _home_!" he shouted Rachel's way.

Finally, Rachel turned her head their way, all fire and fury and what looked like little to no recognition as she sized the two of them up.

"Look what you're doing to your father, Rachel. He's ready to drop," K said to Rachel in a softer tone than Scott had been using, even as Scott glanced her way with a look somewhere between disbelief and wounded pride. "I can understand wanting to pay these creeps back — but you're going to kill him too if you do that. You don't want your little brothers and sisters to grow up without him, do you?" As Scott looked torn between staring at K and trying to catch Rachel's eye, K continued. "Would you do that to Charlie?"

If nothing else, it was clear that K and Scott had Rachel's attention. Her gaze hadn't left the two of them, raking over the details more carefully — from K underneath Scott's shoulders to the still-bright bloodstains on her father. For a moment, something flickered in her expression, and then she turned her face heavenward... and the fire burned that much stronger.

When the concussive blast hit Scott and K, they both tried to tuck in and keep from sustaining more damage. Scott had managed to stay awake even after they'd hit the rooftop, but K was on her feet fast. The last thing Scott saw was K's fist as she knocked him out.

K leapt off the building after she'd hit Scott. Something was definitely wrong. The fire had burned magnificently hot for a while, but now…. Everything was pitch black. Even the artificial lights of the city were off for as far as she could see. She held back from calling out for anyone, unsure of what this meant, but half a block from Scott's building, she heard Thor's heavy footfalls up ahead.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, though her sense of smell was totally burned out amid all the smoke and smoldering rubble.

"Tis nothing but a few scratches," Thor assured her as he made his way over. "And you? What of Cyclops?"

"I didn't know what was going on, so I gave him a little love tap," she said before she hit her palm with her fist. "Didn't want him to see his daughter stabbed if need be. So. Where is our little firebird?"

"I have her," Thor said, and K could see now that he wasn't wearing his cape but had draped it over the girl in his arms. "I caught her before she could hit the ground, but she will require our attention."

"Yes, she will," K agreed. "Let's get her up by Scott. Noh knows where Scott was — they'll be back soon after that little display."

Thor nodded and adjusted his grip on Rachel the slightest bit before the two of them made their way back to where Scott was still out cold — and sure enough, it was only a few moments later that Noh arrived, looking a bit winded and badly singed as he let out an obvious breath of relief on seeing Rachel with Thor.

"Is she…?" he asked carefully.

"She's alive," K said as she knelt down by Scott. "Scott talked her down."

Noh breathed out his relief and leaned down to scoop Scott up. "Everyone has evacuated to my ship ... as soon as we saw the Phoenix…" He sighed and shook his head. "We should move quickly."

"I'll be right behind you guys," K said.

Noh raised an eyebrow her way and looked between her and Scott for a moment. "If you're not opposed to holding onto my shoulders, I could hoist you on my back. I don't like to leave anyone alone in Shi'ar territory," he offered.

"You're worn out; just go," K said. "I'm on my way. He still needs medical attention, and I don't want to jostle him."

Noh and Thor shared a look for a moment before Noh sped off with Scott toward his ship and Thor followed — though K knew the moment Noh had arrived at the  _Marvel_ , because he must have sent her little bamf buddy back for her. The little guy appeared in a poof of smoke and chattered at her for a moment before teleporting her to where the others were, dropping her off right beside Logan.

"So pushy," K said before she pinched the little bamf's arm.

The little guy rolled his eyes at her and giggled before he settled into a snuggle on her shoulder, nuzzling into her cheek and letting out a little exaggerated yawn.

Forge was at the helm of Noh's ship, and he waited long enough to see that everyone was on board before he put the ship in the air, screaming past the Shi'ar ships surrounding the planet as Clint manned the weapons systems to shoot back at anyone who managed to get close enough even with Forge's fancy flying.

But everyone else on board needed to get patched up, and so even though the battle was over, there was still a flurry of activity on the ship. Every single person on board had at least sustained bruises, cuts, and scrapes, though the members of the rescue team were in far better shape than the former prisoners, all of whom had been roughly used both during their capture and after.

Tyler was seated beside Kate and Kurt, with one of Kurt's hands clasped in his as Kate watched close by, the tear streaks on her face telling everyone around them just how badly Kurt had been hurt. When Tyler did release Kurt's hand, Kate didn't hesitate to simply fling her arms around her husband's neck and shoulders as she whispered in both English in German in his ear that if he ever scared her like that again, she was going to make him pay — somehow.

Hank meanwhile had been looking over Storm and Bobby when Noh brought Scott to his attention, and he did what he could for the badly injured Cyclops until Tyler was done with Kurt and could come over to help with that as well. The two men had set up a triage of sorts on the bridge of Noh's ship, prioritizing those that were hurt the worst as Hank would work to keep them from getting any worse until Tyler could help — though it was clear the young man was wearing out fast from the constant use of his powers as well as his own healing from fighting the Shi'ar.

Natasha had stepped in to help as well, directing Tammy and Sophia through what supplies she would need as she helped to try and lighten Hank and Tyler's workload, cleaning and wrapping wounds and even whipping up a few stitches for those who needed them.

She was a surprisingly good nurse, the junior squad found, and she was perfectly sympathetic to their injuries even if, they knew, this was probably nothing compared to what she had seen.

The little bamf on K's shoulder had disappeared when Logan finally woke up with his head in K's lap. He'd startled a bit but had settled down as soon as she rested her hand on his shoulder and shifted so that she could lay down with him. "What happened with Rachel?" he asked quietly as she curled up into him, her head on his shoulder.

"Scott talked her down, we all got out... Tyler is patching up who he can before he passes out from exhaustion. Headed back now … and I think that's about it," K told him before he turned his head her way and kissed the top of her head.

Nearby, Natasha was just finishing stitching up Jana's shoulder from where she'd been hit at the very tail end of the fight, and the young girl was wincing and had her eyes tightly screwed shut through the entire experience until Natasha just had to let out a breath of a laugh and pat Jana's other shoulder consolingly. "You're finished here," she said, packing up her supplies to move on to her next patient.

Jana looked over at the stitches and made a face, though she put on a bit of a braver expression when Natasha looked her way again. "That wasn't so bad," she said, and Natasha just smirked.

"First time getting stitches?" she asked.

"First time getting stitches while I'm awake," Jana corrected her, looking over Natasha's work. "Can I help?"

"Why don't you just stay here and rest that arm until we get back? You've done more than enough," Natasha said kindly, already headed off to the next person who needed her attention as Jana pouted the slightest bit.

As Natasha passed the curled up Logan and K, though, she made a point to sneak a little kiss to Logan's temple. "It's nice to know you have such a fierce defender when I'm not around," she whispered to Logan, tipping her head at Jana with a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh, really now?" Logan asked with a low rumble. "What did I miss?"

"Those young X-Men of yours really stepped it up — you'd be proud," Natasha told him with a widening smile.

"Scott put a lot of work on 'em," Logan replied. "Tell him."

"He's not conscious right now — but I'll get to him next," Natasha promised. "But you — you put in work too. I recognized some of those moves that little one was using," she added, still smirking a bit Jana's way. "Can't hide that."

"Required class," Logan explained away with a wave.

Natasha rolled her eyes and smacked him in the arm with the back of her hand. "You're so stubborn," she said with obvious affection before she kissed his cheek again. "She did well; she didn't let the Shi'ar get to you while you were out."

"Good," Logan said with a little sigh. "I'm glad to hear it. Kid tries."

Natasha's eyes sparkled a bit more as she leaned forward. "Oh, and be sure to ask Tony about the little blonde who scooped him out of the sky."

"He's probably half smitten," Logan muttered.

"Who wouldn't be?" Natasha chuckled before she gave Logan another affectionate kiss and moved on to try to wrestle Remy into letting her look him over.

"You know that's what he was hoping for," Bobby teased. "That you'd manhandle him a little."

Natasha smirked Bobby's way a little before she turned her best stern expression on Remy. "I'm a married woman," she said, though she was holding back a bit of laughter.

"K's not hurt; if you want to get bent into a pretzel before you get looked over ... or maybe pick up another injury or two … pretty sure she'd help you," Bobby said. "You know. Since the Widow is playing the good cop right now."

Remy was chuckling both at Bobby's teasing and Natasha's barely concealed laughter. "Seems Iceman tinks ol' Remy needs the attention o' two o' de most beautiful women on de ship,  _non_?"

"I'm game," K called up with a little smirk. "But only if I get to stay bad cop."

"Oh, that's a dealbreaker," Natasha said, still with that same concealed laughter.

"Okay, you take bad cop; I'll take worse cop," K chuckled, which got Natasha to laugh out loud.

"Both of you knock it off," Logan said with a little growl. "You're gonna give every guy on this can either nightmares or really damn good dreams."

Natasha met his gaze with her most unconvincingly innocent expression. "You mean we don't do that already?"

"Couple of us don't need to pick," he replied.

She smirked his way as she finished up with Remy. "Only the ones crazy enough to marry us," she replied easily before she moved on to her next patient.

"Mispronounced 'lucky'," he called back, which had her smirking and shaking her head his way.

"And with that, I'm going to cross the treaty lines and go check on Scotty," K said as she gave Logan a long, slightly involved kiss as he sat more upright. "Take a seat if you can stand to be by people; otherwise … I'll be back."

At that, Logan sat up enough to lean on the wall of the plane, while K slipped further back to where the more serious cases were all laid out on stretchers away from those well enough to sit up and relax in the seats. Scott was toward the very back and had his face turned toward the wall, eyes closed and still enough that it almost looked like he was still unconscious — though of course K wasn't fooled in the least.

"Mind if I clean him up a bit, Henry?" K asked, already gathering up the gauze and alcohol to wipe up the dried blood.

"Please, go ahead," Henry said with a tired sort of smile.

She knelt down next to Scott and simply started cleaning the blood off his face, biting her lip a bit since she knew that was her mess and he couldn't possibly be happy with her about it. She leaned down low and whispered to him. "Everyone is fine, by the way."

It was a while before he finally let out a breath. "At least there's that," he said very quietly, still not looking away from the wall now that he wasn't playing at unconsciousness.

"You're a real doofus, you know that?" she said. "Rachel is across the aisle. She's fine. No stabbing involved."

He went even more still than before and was half holding his breath as he turned to look first at K — and then beyond her to where Tyler was with Rachel. K was the only one close enough to see the pure  _relief_ that washed over his expression before he closed his eyes again, this time to try and hold in something else entirely.

"You talked her out of it — the fireball was the eviction of who was in charge," K explained. "I'm pretty sure she's just exhausted. And you'll be happy to know your junior squad did one hell of a job saving your heavy hitters. All of them."

"Of course they did. They're good kids," Scott said, with a slight shake to his voice.

"Yeah, I just thought you'd like to hear it."

"I'm sure the debrief later will be interesting," he said with the beginnings of a smirk.

"Yeah, it'll be interesting alright. From what I've heard already," she agreed with a little smile. "Tyler did a good job at fixing your face."

"Yeah, don't do that again."

"I really didn't want to," she said. "But if we couldn't stop it ... you really didn't need to see."

"Wouldn't have been the first time," he said quietly.

"Would have for me," she said. "And I wasn't going to stab her first anyhow."

"I'm just glad it was you and not—" He paused and seemed to reconsider. "I'm glad she had control of it."

"I know. I figured she would." K gave him a little kiss on the temple. "She just needed her dad."

"I wasn't going anywhere," he pointed out, though she could see the pride just behind his expression as he was watching Rachel sleep off the Phoenix exhaustion.

"Yeah, she got all that stubborn from you, clearly," K said, trying to break his mood.

"It's a family trait." He smirked the slightest bit and then tipped his head at K. "She's got more of it than me, honestly, if she can keep the Phoenix in check."

"Maybe," she said with her head tipped a bit. "You need to rest too. What can I get for you before I utterly abandon you for greener pastures?"

He shook his head. "I'm fine here," he promised.

"Right, well. I have some of Annie's stress baking a few doors down. You  _will_ eat it, or I'll tell your Southern belle you insulted her banana bread," K warned. "You need it to heal."

That got an honest chuckle out of him. "I know better than to turn down Annie's stress baking."

"Then I'll be back in a few. Sit up when you're ready," she told him before she headed off to collect some food for most of those that were more severely injured.

* * *

While K was with Scott, Logan had been watching some of the junior squad. It was the first big fight for most of those kids, and it was plain to see that it had shaken up some of their younger members, though they seemed to be taking care of themselves well enough. Sophia was half tucked into Brye's side as Brye regaled her with stories of her new pet and the damage they'd done, and of course Rico just thought the whole thing was one big adventure, while Tyler and Tammy were helping out with the injured. But Jana was just sitting by herself trying not to get noticed with her knees tucked underneath her further out from the others.

"Hey kid," Logan rumbled her way. "Why don't you bring a bottle of water over here?" He was staring to get upright, and as soon as he was, he moved to the nearest seating area to drop down and wait for her.

She glanced up quickly and, seeing him drop down, rushed to go get a bottle and bring it over to him without saying a word until she got there to hold it out. "Here."

"Have a seat," he said.

She blinked at him and then climbed into a seat, still holding the water out.

"Drink it, I don't touch that stuff unless I have to."

She wrinkled her nose a bit. "That's unhealthy," she muttered even as she unscrewed the cap.

"I need a few vices," he said dryly.

She took a little gulp of water, still watching him a bit warily. "Is that all you wanted?" she asked at last after another quick gulp.

"Nope," he replied. "Looked like you could use some company, and from what I was told, you did pretty damn good today."

She flushed a bit with pleasure and tried to cover for it by taking a long drink of water. "I did okay," she admitted. "I could've done better."

"That's not what Natasha said," he replied. "And she has yet to lie to me."

Jana flushed again, though this time she didn't bother to try and hide it. "Yeah, well… thanks then, I guess," she said, a bit flustered.

"I don't hand out compliments too often — and never from a second hand source — so take it as a win," he advised.

She glanced up at him for a quick second and broke into a little grin at that. "Okay. Thanks," she said as the grin widened a bit more the longer she weighed out the compliment in her mind.

It wasn't long after that that K returned with a little basket of food from the baking stash. She didn't even consider it before she handed Jana a chocolate chip muffin and dropped down next to Logan. "Scott's fine. He was hardly even mad I broke his face," she said with a little sigh before she got into a muffin of her own. "Probably because Tyler fixed it already. But … whatever."

Jana turned the muffin over in her hands a couple times as she watched K curiously. "Why'd you break his face?" she asked, honestly confused.

K looked up at her with an open expression. "I thought I was going to have to kill Rachel. Didn't want him to see it. So I knocked him out."

"Oh." Jana looked back down at her muffin and took a quick bite out of it to chew over her words and her thoughts.

"I was going to try and shock her out of it first though," K said with a little look. "Still not sure what I was going to try, but claws were not at the top of my list." She turned to Logan with an amused expression on her face. "Scott's trying to pretend like he's not starving to death back there. I left him with a whole loaf of banana bread and a king-sized Snickers, because he's  _grumpy_ when he's healing."

Jana snorted at the joke into her own muffin. "Did you get the Look?" she couldn't help but ask.

"I  _always_ get the Look," K said with a chuckle. "But it just makes it that much better to deliver it to him like that."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't have to kill Rachel," Jana said quietly.

"Me too," she replied. "There would have been no reason at all for him to ever want anything to do with either of us otherwise."

* * *

Once the worst cases had been seen to, Hank had time to check over the rest of their teammates. Everyone had come out of that fight worse off in some way or another, and he simply couldn't relax until he was sure that he'd seen to everyone.

He knew that Storm and Bobby had been hit by the electrifying stasis field, and he wanted to be sure to check them over for burns or other injuries related to being electrocuted. What he wasn't expecting, then, was the change in Storm's scent since the last time he had seen her.

He hadn't noticed it before, because he had himself been ill-used and because there had been other concerns at the time. The scent of misery had been too overwhelming.

But now? Now, he wanted Tyler to come help him with Storm. Because he would prefer not to tell Storm what he had scented if the electrocution had harmed the little one as well. He would rather not lift her hopes or raise her concerns until he was sure.

"Tyler," Hank called out to his stepson. "If you have a moment…"

Tyler looked up and, seeing the look on Hank's face, immediately nodded, despite how exhausted he was from all the healing he'd done. He crossed the room to Hank, though Hank put a hand on his shoulder before he could do anything more.

"She's not aware of her condition, and I don't want to stress her unduly," Hank said in a low tone only Tyler could hear. "Look at the little one first."

Tyler frowned but nodded all the same. He could do a scan much more readily than healing, but with that kind of directive, he was also ready to pour everything into healing Storm's baby if he needed to.

So it was a relief when he took Storm's hand and let his shoulders drop. "Okay," he said quietly. "You're alright. And…" He paused and looked over at Hank. "And everything looks alright with you and the Maker's newest little project, but you're going to need to stay on bed rest for a little while."

Storm frowned at Tyler. "I'm sorry; I don't think I—"

Tyler held up a hand with a small smile. "I was trying to be sneaky, but…" He let out a breath. "You're a little more electricity-proof than average, and I think that's the only reason that the stress of electrocution didn't damage your baby. But the severe stress is going to put you at higher risk of a miscarriage if you don't give yourself time to rest and recover, so… bed rest."

Storm simply stared at Tyler for a longer moment before she broke into a warm smile and pulled him into a hug. "Far be it from me to argue with our youngest doctor," she said, still with that same smile. "I'd just ask you to get my husband for me, if you please…"

"Oh, yeah, sure, absolutely," Tyler said, already scooting off to do just that.

By the time Forge was settled in with Storm — completely unable to say or do anything but look at Storm in reverent awe — Tyler and Hank had gone through just about everyone that needed their attention and were ready to get some rest themselves. So of course, that was when they got one more sheepish visitor.

"I can come back," Noh said, clearly already not looking forward to talking to either one of them, though he had a hand on his side and a hitch in his step. "You're both busy and exhausted. I'm sorry; I should just leave you be…. I don't know what I was thinking…"

"Don't be ridiculous," Hank said with a frown and a wave. "Come, let's see how badly you've torn yourself up this time."

Noh let out a bit of a sigh as he removed his hand so Hank could see where he'd torn his stitches. "It must have happened during the battle, but this wound is old; I wasn't thinking of keeping off this side. It should have healed by now," Noh explained with a deeply settled frown.

Hank just looked at him over his half moon glasses as Tyler took a seat on the other side of Noh and offered his hand. "I'm not sure what I can do to heal, but I can see if there's deeper damage," Tyler offered.

Noh looked more sheepish still as he nodded and took the proffered hand. "Perhaps I should help you to learn more of Kree anatomy while I am here," he said with a bit of a sigh.

"That would be good," Tyler said. "If you have anything I can use to study on the way back, I promise to put it to good use."

"I have an extensive library on this ship. I'll set you up with the codes for the reference material you need," Noh said with a little nod. "If for no other reason than I have a little boy who is only half-Kree and may not have quite the same constitution I do."

Tyler gave him a little smile and nodded his head "I'll memorize all that I can," Tyler swore as he started his scan of Noh. Tyler concentrated hard, but it was clear that the young man was taxed pretty well by that time. "The stitches will need to be re-sewn. I think your nanites are putting most of their effort on the burn damage to a few of your organs. One of the lobes of a lung is singed … nothing we can do, but it's probably hard to breathe. There's no infection, though, so that's good."

"I don't get infections," Noh said with a small smirk. He let out a sigh and rested a hand on Tyler's shoulders. "And you should rest. Thank you for your help, but you shouldn't overburden yourself. You look positively worn."

"That's not any different than you right now," Tyler replied. "What can I get you while Hank works on the stitches?"

"Don't worry about it; I just need food and rest, just like everyone else on this ship," Noh promised him with a dismissive wave. "Perhaps more rest than I anticipated, but I doubt my Jubilee will mind," he added with a creeping smile.

"I'll let her know you're looking for food and attention, then," Tyler said with a little smile before he got up and headed toward where the bulk of the team members were.

While they were waiting for Tyler to bring Jubilee back, Noh watched Hank work with a quiet frown as he re-stitched Noh's side. "I thought I had at least another five years before anything like this, but I suppose being on this team, being on Earth…"

"I beg your pardon?" Hank said with a raised eyebrow.

Noh looked up in surprise and then flushed a bit. "I'm sorry; I was just thinking out loud," he said.

"What's this about five years?" Hank asked with a clear frown. "I wasn't aware of any expiration date on Kree."

Noh let out a little breath almost like a laugh. "Not in this universe, no — but mine was far more structured," he explained. "And at any rate, I wasn't expecting to slow down so soon. Most make it to at least another five or even ten years before they hit their decline."

"Young man, I take exception to the gross misstatement that you are on the decline," Hank said frankly.

"Oh? Then what do you make of my slowing healing system?" Noh replied, matching his raised eyebrow look from earlier.

"I would say that you have a bit of an issue following doctors' orders, for one thing," Hank said. "You rarely if ever allow yourself the full time needed to heal before you dive headlong into another scuffle. Perhaps that's our fault, though. We tend to bring down that kind of attention that comes in waves, it seems."

Noh waved his hand. "I enjoy being on this team; I can defend Earth that way," he said dismissively. "But I have worn down faster than I expected, and that is my fault…" He trailed off and let out a sigh.

"Perhaps you should explain to me a bit more thoroughly," Hank said. "We have time while I properly bandage you up."

Noh seemed to size Hank up for a moment before he nodded carefully. "You know I'm not from this universe. Where I  _am_ from, the Kree rule, and there is peace and order, but very little choice," he said softly. "Everything is in service to the Empire, and so when we are no longer useful, we give our bodies to the scientists to research and serve the next generation of Kree." He gestured at his stitches. "And I am declining. At home, this would mean the end of my expedition, and I'd report myself to complete my service as soon as my affairs were in order."

Hank looked properly shocked by the order of events. "But that's a bit wasteful, don't you think?"

"Not at all," Noh tried to explain. "Everything is used — every tissue, every cell — to improve the next generation. Genetic markers are used to grow the next generation to be better and stronger than the one before. It's considered the best service to the Empire."

"Oh, my dear boy," Hank said in a terribly weary, heartbroken tone. "You are so much more than the warrior you've become. To lose such a light would be criminal to whatever dimension you might be in," he said with a shake of his head. "Our species —  _subspecies,_  that is — don't generally find our second mutation until we've hit our late twenties to early thirties. It's the final extension of our genetic potential — and were you a mutant like us, you'd just be finding your stride. With many, many long years ahead of you."

"But I am not a mutant," Noh pointed out gently.

"No, but you are married to one who cherishes you deeply," Hank countered. "I would not advise saying anything about being too old to exist around her unless you wished to come to that end."

"No, I know better than to say something like that," Noh promised. "And I do look forward to many more years with her. I just… find I don't know what to do with those years." He looked properly sheepish at the admission.

"You'll spend them watching your son grow," Hank said. "And teaching him all that he should know. You'll spend them with  _her_."

Noh smiled the slightest bit at that and had to nod. "I do enjoy the family I have here, more than anything else I've ever seen across many dimensions. Though I'm still not sure I know what I am  _doing_."

"No one does," Hank replied. "No one ever does."

"So … what's the story here?" Jubilee said as she bounced into the medical area where Hank had been working so diligently. "Did he kiss your boo boos — or can I still do that?"

"You can always do that, even if he had done so," Noh assured her, sitting up a bit straighter when he saw Jubilee.

"Well … where can I  _start_?" she asked with a wide smile.

Noh glanced over at Hank for a moment before he slid to his feet and swept her up to press a kiss to her nose. "Anywhere you like," he told her.

"Then we shall need some privacy, ," Jubilee replied as seriously as she could. "Or … we shall need to get the heck away from the smell of antiseptic."

"I can do one of those things," Noh promised her, shooting a small and grateful smile Hank's way as he just carried Jubilee off.

* * *

When Rachel finally woke up, she did so slowly, blinking in a very tired, worn manner until she realized that she was in a spaceship — and then she sat bolt upright and looked around herself. She couldn't help but panic until she saw Scott — and then she scurried over to him with a look of concern on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking him over carefully. "You've got a lot of blood on your clothes …"

"I'm fine," he promised her quickly, though that was all he got out before he just pulled his arms around her shoulders and drew her up in a big hug. "It's just on my clothes."

"But you looked so … hurt," she said as she wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Ty fixed it. I'm fine, really," Scott promised, drawing her still tighter and not showing any signs of letting her go anytime soon.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder in the hug as she breathed out the admission. "I almost lost it."

"But you didn't," Scott said, speaking just as softly and gently as Rachel had ever heard. "That's all that matters right now — you got it back under control. You didn't lose it. You're okay."

"Only because you're okay," she muttered.

"I wasn't about to leave you," Scott said with the slightest of smirks, though she couldn't see it when he had her head underneath his chin.

"I know," she said. "You were pretty clear about that. I'm just sorry you had to … freak out like that. Because I know. You were …. Projecting a lot."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to reach you any way I could—"

"It helped," she said. "And Thor and K had plans that didn't involve any claws at all. They … might have worked if all else failed."

"Then I had good backup," Scott said. "But I knew you could get it under control."

"Believe it or not?" she said, picking up her head a bit. "They all did."

He broke into a bit of a smile. "Of course they did. We all know what you can do." He paused and very gently and almost hesitatingly pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm proud of you."

She honestly didn't know what to say, so instead, she just burrowed into him and let out a sigh. "Love you too, Dad."


	11. Promises To Keep

Back in K's cottage, Annie, Leslie Ann, Kamala, and Miles certainly had their hands full with all the little ones. Annie had experience with the twins taking care of two very young babies who weren't quite mobile yet, but that meant she was with Cody and Kari most of the time, and the three younger babysitters were getting fairly worn out from playing with the older kids all the time.

The two bamfs who had stayed behind with the group were doing their best to help too, playing with Zoe and James. James had discovered that the bamfs were great at catching him before he fell over and seemed to have taken this as a challenge to run faster and farther than he was supposed to, laughing hysterically every time the bamfs 'ported him back to where he started from — all while Zoe seemed to be egging him on.

Kamala and Miles had all of the older kids in one big pile in the living room with hot chocolate as they watched the snow, and Annie had just put the littlest ones to bed when the comm Scott had given her chirped — with Scott letting her know that they were on their way home.

Annie beamed as she leaned against the kitchen counter in both relief and genuine exhaustion from taking care of this many kids for so long. "Is everyone alright? Should I get some food together for the healers?"

"No, no," Scott said. "I'm sure you've been busy. We'll just order in. Looking forward to some quiet time to tell you all about it."

"You'll have to tell me everything," she agreed with a little smile. "See you soon." With that, she put away the comm and turned to see one of the bamfs grinning broadly at her, his little tail waving lazily behind him.

When the little guy met her gaze, he giggled and teleported away in a poof of smoke, reappearing with Kamala and Miles and Leslie Ann with their group of kids as he started chattering away.

He hadn't been chattering for very long before Krissy threw her arms around the little guy in a hug. "Really?" she asked him brightly, and when he nodded, she laughed delightedly and turned to the others. "Mama and Papa comnin home! Everybody comnin home!"

"When?" Charlie asked eagerly, and Krissy shrugged and turned to the little bamf, who started chattering away again.

"Really soon," Krissy reported. "He don' know when is soon, though."

"How do you even know what he's saying?" Miles couldn't help but ask the little girl.

She broke into little giggles. "He talks just like everybody, silly!" she said as if it was blatantly obvious.

"She did learn to talk around them," Kamala pointed out with a little smirk as they watched Krissy and the excited little bamf go back and forth for a while.

"We gotta get ready," Krissy told the other kids. "We gotta go home, 'cause there's too many people to come here."

"Back home with the bamfs?" Sying asked with his head tipped to the side, and Krissy nodded and giggled.

"Good. I miss our house," Chance said with a little nod. "And Dad."

"Your dad comnin," Krissy assured him. "He called MissAmmie."

"Is everybody okay?" Charlie asked, but Krissy just wrinkled her nose and shrugged.

"I dunno."

"They've got Ty and Doctor Fuzzy. They're  _fine_ ," Chance assured his sister before he bounded over to his mom to start 'helping' her put things away for the trip back to the mansion.

The two little bamfs started trying to help as well, following the kids around until they felt like everyone was sufficiently ready before they started up with teleporting everyone back — Annie first to warn anyone back at the mansion and then the kids in groups of two.

When Annie arrived, she was a bit surprised to find that Erik had called in a few former mansion residents to help him run thing while everyone else was gone — since, after all, there were still students at the school even if all the staff were kidnapped or trying to rescue each other. It looked like he had called up his daughter to come — no surprises there — but also most of the members of Excalibur. And Kitty had clearly brought Peter Quill with her, because he was the first one to spot Annie and to run over to her with his eyebrows high on his forehead.

"Where've you  _been_?" he asked. "It's been days, and the place is totally empty. It's creepy, let me tell you."

"With the littlest ones," Annie explained to him with a little smile as, almost on cue, the bamfs reappeared with both twins. "We thought it would be safer while the staff was gone."

"Well … I can see that, I guess," he said with a little frown. "At least until we got here. These kids have been missing their regular instructors."

"Yes, but it's always fun to have guest instructors," Annie assured him.

"Maybe if it's one or two? But the whole schedule? Not so much," Peter said.

She had to nod at that as the bamfs arrived again, this time with Kamala and Kari, who was still sound asleep and snuggled into the young woman. "Oh. Hey, Star Lord," Kamala said, sounding surprised. "When did you get here?"

"Um, you know, about two hours after we got the call from Erik," Peter said as James barrelled right for him and he had to crouch down to catch him before he fell over. "Dude. You can't do that," he told him as he picked him up, mostly because James had gone from giggling to wrapped around his neck, and he wasn't getting away very easy.

"That's what we keep trying to tell him," Kamala said with a little laugh as the bamfs arrived with Krissy and Elin.

The repeated  _bamfs_  had drawn some attention to the entryway as Erik and Kitty both arrived to investigate, which of course had the kids running to go see their friends — excited to get to play with somebody new.

"We runned away to the pretty house," Krissy explained to Kitty as soon as Kitty had scooped her up. "But we back now."

"The pretty house?" Kitty asked with a little frown. "Where is that, honey?"

"It's where the  _big_  lake is!" Krissy giggled. "With really loud waves when it's windy!"

"It's windy a lot there," Elin said with a little nod.

"Did you miss us? Huh?" Krissy pressed, still giggling. "We were gone a  _long_ time!"

"Of course I did, little Elf princess," Kitty replied with a squeeze. "Did you have fun while you were gone?"

She giggled and nodded. "I always have fun at the pretty house," she said matter-of-factly before she leaned in and whispered, "Even if Mama and Papa aren't there."

Kitty looked up at Annie with a little frown. "Where were you guys and why weren't Kate and Kurt there?"

Annie let out a sigh. "Like she said — we had to run away." She was half eyeing the kids as she was clearly choosing her words carefully and mouthed out the word "Shi'ar."

Peter cringed and made a face at that. "Well that explains where the staff disappeared to, then."

"And of course, they sent Sabretooth as a distraction," Annie continued.

"Is Logan alright?" Kitty asked, suddenly paying a lot more attention — since Erik hadn't known about that to tell her it was an issue.

"He's fine," Annie promised. "At least ... he's fine when it comes to that. As I understand it, it was Tyler and K who took the brunt of that."

"He was fine when I saw him," Leslie Ann offered. "He was the one stitching up everyone else, like Noh. He said he'd take me to Japan when he got back, too."

"Oh, that should be  _fun_ for you," Kitty said. "Just don't touch anything he doesn't tell you to."

"Okay, I'll do that," Leslie Ann agreed. "Dad said the same sort of thing about going to school here — I'm supposed to listen to the teachers."

"That's right. And be respectful," Annie said, to which Leslie Ann just nodded her head.

"Were you  _worried_  about everybody?" Charlie asked, her eyes wide as she held her hands up for Erik to pick her up.

"We always worry about you," Erik told her lightly. "That's what you do when you care for someone." She seemed to consider this for a moment and then nodded seriously before she hugged him around the neck.

It wasn't much longer before they saw Noh's ship come in out of the large windows in the living room. Sying rushed over to the windows and excitedly pointed at the ship. "Look, see? That's  _my dad's_ ship!" he informed Kitty with a very proud smile as they watched it come in — which was, of course, the cue for Annie and Leslie Ann to try to keep the kids from mobbing the hangar, just in case the others were coming back injured.

Those in the best shape were out first, and Scott and Rachel of course disembarked together seeing as they hadn't released each other for much of anything for the entire way back. He was telling her to head down to the med bay, and she was insisting he do the same. The ferals had waited for half of the plane to clear out before they tried to do the sneaky slip around everyone — though they should have known that wasn't going to work out very well for them.

Jana ended up being the one to meet Leslie Ann before the bulk of the X-Men left the ship, and she too was trying to avoid actual med bay time. It was hard to do, though, when her best friend was wincing over her shoulder and insisting that she "at least get a Twinkie so I can snitch one too."

"Don't you go picking up the bad habits of those idiots you went to rescue," Annie told Jana sternly when she saw what her niece was up to with Jana. "You get yourself seen to, and then you get some sleep in your own bed. You all look exhausted."

Leslie Ann grinned triumphantly at that and scooted off with her best friend on her arm being pulled along.

The tide of little ones did end up making it to the hangar when they broke away from Miles and Kamala, so there was suddenly a lot of happy giggling and squealing as everyone went to their respective missing parents.

"Papa, are you okay?" Krissy asked after Kate swept her up in her arms, her little tail switching behind her with honest worry.

Kurt leaned over and kissed Krissy's forehead. "Don't worry,  _liebling_. I'm fine," he promised her as he readjusted his shirt the slightest bit to hide some of the wrapping. "I missed you,  _Prinzessin_. Won't you tell me what you've been doing while we've been gone?"

Krissy beamed and immediately launched into a retelling of everything that the kids had been up to since they left, hardly pausing in her storytelling when Kamala handed Kari to Kurt and the little pink elfling snuggled right in.

Sying was similarly fussing over his dad, concerned over the fact that Noh wasn't quite up to snuff as he took Noh's hand and started to lead him upstairs. "Come on, Daddy. We gotta go upstairs for food and sleepnin," he said with absolutely no room in his tone for argument, which just had Jubes grinning.

The twins, of course, followed after Scott and Rachel as they voiced their concern over how wrapped around each other the two of them were — since that usually meant something happened.

But it was Zoe who stole the cake for the cutest welcome home greeting. The usually reserved little girl broke into a very loud shout of "YAY!" when she saw her parents and ran as fast as her chubby legs could carry her to simply attach to Natasha's leg and refuse to let go as she kept repeating "miss Mom and Dad" over and over until Natasha and Clint had to crouch down and hug her right there in the hangar — since she wasn't going anywhere.

It was the first time in two weeks that James didn't go toward someone at a dead run, instead walking carefully through the other little ones, wide eyed; they all seemed so worried. When he and Elin got to their parents, he just held his arms up for his mother, and Elin took Logan's hand — perfectly content to get her snuggles once they were out of the hangar. They were the only ones that  _didn't_ ask if their parents were alright, simply happy to have been reunited.

They barely got out of the elevator once they'd slipped away from the rest of the crowd when they met up with Kitty and Peter, who looked somewhat surprised to see them upstairs so quickly.

"Oh, I thought you might want to make sure the others were alright," Kitty said to Logan as the two little ferals shared a quick look and a minute smile — since they could tell just by scent  _why_ the two Guardians had even been in the area to help out.

"No, they have plenty of people fussin' over 'em," Logan replied before Kitty took the couple of steps closer and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "You stickin' around for a little bit?"

"I guess that depends on how much you guys need us," Kitty said.

"You should stick around until the end of the school year," K suggested. "I think I may steal this guy for a little while after he gets back from Japan."

Kitty had to smirk a little bit at that. "I could cover self-defense," she said.

"Who's coverin' it now?" Logan asked.

"Me and sometimes Cap. The Avengers have been helping, which is kinda weird but also really helpful," Kitty said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, let Cap do it," Logan said. "He needs the practice. You're fine."

"Yeah, I am," Kitty agreed with a little smirk that had Peter laughing at her outright. She shook out her hair for a moment before she said, "Leslie Ann told me you're taking her with you when you go to Japan. She's pretty excited."

"Seemed like a pretty fair trade off to keep her from tryin' to follow us to the Shi'ar homeworld," he said.

Peter visibly winced at that and shook his head. "Oooh, yeah, good call. That kid doesn't need to be anywhere near those guys."

"No big deal; I'd like to go back to Japan anyhow. Cherry blossoms will be blooming soon," Logan said. "I'll take her to Mount Fuji and see how much sushi she'll tolerate before she's beggin' for cheeseburgers."

"You never know. She might decide she likes it there and you'll have a hard time getting her to leave," Peter said with a smirk.

"Ain't happened yet," Logan replied. "Kitty was sick of it in the first two hours. Jubes was over it before she even stepped foot outta the first restaurant."

"Well, we can definitely stick around until you get back. Now I'm kinda curious as to how long she holds out," Peter laughed.

"You can be the one takin' bets," Logan replied before he pulled K with him — though Elin was leading the way, yanking on his other hand.

The little family was almost entirely gone before Kitty bit her lip, bouncing from one foot to the other. "And … we'd be sticking around anyway… since you should definitely be there for me and Peter when… you know."

Logan turned to look at her flatly with an expression that clearly said he wasn't going to let it hang on just "you know."

"Hey, we'll let you know when we find out if it's a boy or a girl, huh?" Peter put in, which as least got an affectionate smile out of K and a hug before Kitty almost sheepishly made her way over to Logan for a hug that he quickly turned into a bear hug.

* * *

It had been several weeks since the incident with the Shi'ar, and while things were back to normal at the school, that didn't mean Leslie Ann was about to forget that she'd been promised an adventure,  _especially_ when she'd been having to listen to Jana and the others talking about outer space and all the stuff they saw for weeks now.

But everybody had come back pretty banged up, so she was trying to be patient and give the teachers some space. They really seemed to need it, especially when Miss Kitty and Star Lord and then Storm and Forge had announced that they were expecting. So even after everyone had recovered, there was a whole other kind of thing to deal with, and Leslie Ann knew they would want to celebrate, so she didn't want to push…

Still, she felt like about a month was a reasonable amount of time, and even though her dad had always taught her that it was impolite to impose on people or to demand things, she just wanted to make sure that Logan hadn't  _forgotten_.

So she waited a little bit longer after history class, after everyone else had left and she was left standing in the classroom with all her books gathered up and her courage only half gathered as she scuffed one foot against the ground.

"Something on your mind, little darlin'?" he asked before he looked up at her from where he was leaning on his desk.

"Actually, yeah," she said before she took in a deep breath. "I was wondering about Japan. I mean ... I know it's the school year, but I didn't want you to forget or…"

"Believe it or not, I had a talk with your dad about that not too long ago," he told her. "If you still wanna go, we can take a few days over break."

She broke into a wide, excited grin. "Of course I still want to go!" she said as the flower in her braid bloomed just a bit brighter. "I've been excited about it for  _weeks_!"

"Well, the timing works out right," he said as he stood up. "What do you know about springtime in Japan?"

"I just know about the flowers," she said. "I've been researching a lot about plants all around the world so I can grow stuff in my greenhouse."

"If the weather works for us, then there's a really nice spot I think you'll like at the base of Mount Fuji.  _Sakura_ should be in full bloom when we get there."

"That sounds really cool!" She beamed at him. "It's easier to bloom flowers that I can see in person and not just in pictures."

"Some of those trees are hundreds of years old," he said. "It's a busy time in Japan — but hard to beat for pretty."

"Do you think… I could touch some of those trees?" she asked hesitantly. "I like the older trees. They're peaceful."

"They don't stop you from touching much of anything," he replied.

She beamed wider at that. "And you don't mind just taking me to watch me touch trees?" she asked almost bashfully.

"We're gonna do more than just hang out with the trees. There's a bamboo forest on the mountain, and I'm sure I can come up with things to do in Tokyo."

She grinned delightedly and nodded. "Thanks so much!" she said, unable to hide her excitement as she flung her arms around his neck.

"Just make sure you're up to snuff on your hand-to-hand," he said as he gave her a little pat on the back.

"I will!" she promised. "I'll practice after classes. I'll — I'll ask Uncle Scott and Miss K and maybe Miss Kate too help me."

"I'll let Bobby know we have plans then," Logan said as he headed for the door, leaving Leslie Ann perfectly  _thrilled_ in his wake.


	12. A Matter Of Honor

It was pitch black out — except of course for the bright lights of Tokyo — when the little mini-jet came in for a landing. Leslie Ann was wide-eyed at the bright lights and flashing colors as they climbed out of the mini-jet and headed for the loudly colored city, and she had her hands almost constantly clasped under her chin.

"First up — we find a  _room_ ," Bobby said in a tired tone.

"But there's so much to  _see_ ," Leslie Ann said as she seemed to be trying to take in everything at once.

"And it'll be there in the morning," Bobby said. "When it's easier to spot the murderous ninjas that follow  _him_ around like a shadow."

Leslie Ann grinned at him and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Don't worry; I've been practicing.  _And_ I've gotten really good at growing vines to grab bad guys!"

"You still don't want to deal with these creeps, kiddo," Bobby insisted. "The less ninjas, the better this trip will be."

"Well, let's at least find a place with a view," Leslie Ann sighed.

"I'll see what I can do," Logan said as he hailed a cab and the three of them headed into the heart of the city.

The whole experience was kind of wild for Leslie Ann and slightly irritating for Bobby, since it seemed that one of Logan's favorite hobbies in Japan was busting out random locals on saying awful things to foreigners in rapidfire, short-sounding Japanese. But Leslie Ann seemed to take it in stride, tickled that Logan was standing up for them.

The room they got was exactly what she'd hoped for — a large suite that overlooked the main drag, nothing but neon lights and massive television screens up and down the street, with the cars thirty stories below.

"This is amazing," Leslie Ann whispered out.

"Glad you're enjoyin' it," Logan said over her shoulder. "But you should get some rest. We have miles to put under our shoes tomorrow."

"I can  _try_ ," she said, bouncing on her toes the slightest bit. She wrapped her arms around Logan's neck in a hug again and giggled delightedly. "Thanks a million!"

"Yeah, yeah — get to bed," he grumbled. And when Leslie Ann flounced off, Logan watched as the little girl bounded over to her bedroom before he settled in to keep an eye on things.

"You sure you don't want me to take first watch?" Bobby asked.

"I've got it, popsicle," Logan told him as they settled in for the remainder of the night.

* * *

The train ride to Hokkaido was long and boring, and it seemed like Logan was taking his nap on the train while Bobby tried to entertain Leslie Ann for the duration. When they stepped off the train, though, she audibly gasped at the sheer number of massive pink-blossom laden trees surrounding them.

There were fallen blossoms covering every pathway, making the whole place look like it had fallen from a postcard. And in the distance, Mount Fuji loomed — larger than life and smoking almost ominously.

Leslie Ann picked up a few of the fallen blossoms and held them in her hands, blooming them brighter and bigger as her excitement poured into them. She couldn't stop grinning at absolutely everything.

As she was taking in the flowers, they were passed by three geisha in full makeup, almost silently floating by, with beautiful silk kimonos that stood out perfectly against the beautiful flowering trees around them. "Welcome to Japan," Logan told her quietly.

"Oh  _wow_ ," was all she could manage to say, wide-eyed and grinning and unable to stop the occasional delighted giggle.

"Come on, let's take in the festival for now," he directed, his hand on her shoulder to steer her toward where the people were converging. "Find a nice spot and make yourself comfortable."

Leslie Ann did just that and tucked herself in between a couple big trees, letting out a little contented sigh as she put her hand very gently against the side of one of them. "Ooh. So old," she whispered, her eyes sparkling before she closed them and seemed to be perfectly content to become one with the tree.

"Typical. All of Japan and she's spending an hour with two trees," Bobby chuckled under his breath to Logan.

"We'll head up to the shrine when she's done. There are some really old ones up there she oughta get a kick out of."

"I should've brought something to read at this rate," Bobby said with a smirk.

"You should be keeping your eyes open for ninja," Logan said. "Otherwise ... you can refreeze her snow cone."

Bobby grinned and headed over to Leslie Ann to fill her snow cone cup with fresh ice. "Hey, kiddo, you're gonna drip all over yourself," he teased.

"Oh, sorry," she said, though she seemed to be speaking more to her jeans, where there was a little bit of snow cone. She clambored to her feet and looked around. "I get lost in them sometimes. They're just so… peaceful," she explained as she followed him back to where Logan was. "I wish I could talk to them and hear the stories they could tell."

"If they did, you'd need to learn Japanese to understand 'em," Logan said distractedly as he watched the crowd. "If you wanna go see the shrine before it gets too crowded..."

"Okay, lead the way," she said, shooing him with her hands.

The three of them went through the twisting streets until they came up on the very quiet shrine lined with visitors lighting candles and ringing the bell. "There are a few really old ones if that's what you're after," Logan whispered to Leslie Ann.

"I want to light a candle first," she whispered back.

"Alright; I'll walk you through it," he told her. He led her to the little area meant to wash your hands, and as they did so, he told her what the next steps were. "Walk toward the shrine's god and put some money in the box," he said as he handed her a few coins. "Bow twice —  _politely_. Clap your hands twice, then bow once more. That's all there is to it."

Leslie Ann nodded as she carefully went through all the steps he'd told her, her eyes sparkling with happiness as she did so, though it was clear she was concentrating hard to get it all right. When she was done, she turned Logan's way, clearly tickled to pieces.

He was smirking at her as he nodded, entertained as she tried to stop herself from skipping all the way over to where he and Bobby were watching.

"Do you mind if I see the old trees? You can tell me if I'm taking too long," she said, still grinning.

"I don't mind at all," he replied. "This is your trip. We'll just have to feed Bobby before he starts whining."

"Well, we've  _gotta_ feed our Iceman," Leslie Ann teased happily.

"I'll take you to your trees first," he said. "He ain't gonna wither away on us."

She laughed delightedly as she skipped behind the two men until they got to the ancient trees at the shrine, and she gaped in awe as she almost reverently sat between them and closed her eyes, seemingly over the moon and happy to be able to stay there as long as she wanted.

It was some time later when she finally opened her eyes, taking a deep and rattling breath as she stared up at the two X-Men with eyes that were practically shining. "I could stay here  _forever_ ," she said.

"That's precious," Bobby said. "But I'm starving."

She laughed and shook her head at him. "Yeah, I guess we should eat something," she said with a sigh.

"C'mon, I know a place," Logan said. "Noodles okay with you two?"

"I'll try anything," Leslie Ann said with a confident grin.

"No, don't tell him that," Bobby said in her ear. "He will take you for sushi when we get back by the coast."

"What's wrong with sushi? My uncle likes sushi. Uncle Craig, I mean."

"See?" Logan said, smacking Bobby in the center of his chest. "Ya big baby."

"We'll have noodles first," Leslie Ann promised Bobby soothingly as she trailed along behind Logan. It was entertaining to watch the little curly-headed girl going down the streets, because her every step left brighter blooms in her wake — a clear sign she was having a  _blast_.

After a quick dinner, they found another hotel that was much smaller than the last one, but it only meant that the next day was going to be  _on_ Mount Fuji with the bamboo forest.

Again, the train ride was boring, and when they got to the mountain, Logan looked a bit more tense, but he took them up the trail and into the bamboo forest without much fanfare.

Just like before, Leslie Ann seemed to be entirely enamored with the natural sights of Japan, pausing several times to run a hand over the bamboo as she  _beamed_. "This is way different from the trees. It's a whole different feeling," she told Logan.

"I heard someone say it was more like giant grass. Not sure how close that is, though," he said quietly.

"It's pretty similar," she admitted. "Sort of like… self-important overgrown lawn stuff." She giggled a bit at the description as she patted the bamboo almost consolingly. "But really pretty."

"Sounds about right for the country," Bobby said under his breath, earning a little glare from Logan.

"It grows pretty fast too," Leslie Ann told Bobby. "I've read about this stuff. It actually  _feels_ impatient. I wish I could explain it better."

"Well there's plenty to look at," Logan said as he strolled up the path that led to the top of the volcano.

The three of them made their way up, with Leslie Ann stopping often to marvel over some new aspect of the nature around them that stuck out to her. She was in heaven exploring the forest, having the time of her life, until Logan stopped short ahead of her.

He held up one hand and turned his head slowly to the side. "Well, that took longer than I'm used to," he muttered out.

Leslie Ann was just about to ask him what he was talking about when it seemed like a whole swarm of ninjas positively melted out of the forest to very quickly surround the three of them.

"They aren't Hand," Logan said to Bobby, though he didn't sound thrilled at the prospect.

.

"Good to know," Bobby said as he iced up and was clearly sticking close to Leslie Ann.

"They're from Yashida," Logan clarified. "So don't … start anything. Yet."

"Do you want me to … I could make us a path in the forest," Leslie Ann offered.

"Won't help," Logan replied. "They're keeping us here for their master. If we go, they'll stop us or follow."

"I don't think I like that," she muttered half under her breath.

"Hazards of travelling anywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere with this guy," Bobby said under his breath to her.

It wasn't too long before a fully-armored samurai appeared. His face was covered, though the armor was familiar — bright silver, every bit of it.

The harsh voice behind the armor barked out a few things in Japanese that Leslie Ann and Bobby clearly did not come close to catching, but Logan answered him in a calm, even tone, even as the samurai got more and more agitated. It was clear pretty early on that the guy wanted a fight, but Logan kept calm even when the guy started pointing at him and was clearly losing his cool.

"What are they saying? Do you know?" Leslie Ann whispered to Bobby, who shook his head.

"Doesn't seem like the other guy's too happy. Whatever his problem is."

It wasn't long into their argument before Logan finally raised his voice a bit and said something that had the guy positively livid. A moment later, the samurai had drawn his sword, and the two of them were sizing each other up, though Logan refused to move — even without his claws out or a sword for him to fight with. When the samurai rushed toward him, Logan made a quick move as he darted around the samurai's strikes and pulled the scabbard from his belt. He used the scabbard to deflect the hits, and the first time the young man charged him in a lunge, Logan simply held up the scabbard to sheathe the sword and twisted hard to take it away from him.

The younger silver-clad man stumbled a bit when he lost his weapon, and Logan turned to face him with a scowl on his face as he looked at the blade and started positively berating him. The words were out of Bobby's grasp, but the tone and the expression on his face were very familiar to him, at least.

"Well. I think he just got told," Bobby said as Logan pointed toward the ninjas with the beginning of a growl creeping into his voice as he continued to get after the samurai.

Leslie Ann giggled a bit at that. "So ... can we go? I mean, that was pretty cool. I think Logan won. Right?"

"Yeah, he won," Bobby said. "But… I don't think it's entirely over. Yet." But at that, Logan threw the sword in its scabbard at the samurai's feet and made it clear even to the English speakers that he wasn't putting up with their nonsense.

"We're leaving," Logan growled out finally to his friends. "We'll continue on our way up the mountain, and when we come back down — they  _will_ be gone."

Bobby was watching the ninjas warily still, but Leslie Ann simply nodded, entirely confident in Logan as she followed after him with slightly widened eyes and a little grin.

The rest of the trip up the mountain was peaceful, and it took some time, but after a while, she got to take a break and take in the forest again, though Logan was glaring into the trees and bamboo around them.

"Are you okay?" Leslie Ann asked him after a moment. "I don't know what that guy said to make you mad, but I'll totally get in his face for it if you tell me what it was."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I've got it covered," Logan said. "Just a little punk trying to find a way to bring honor back to his clan."

"I thought the Silver Samurai was dead," she replied, then looked a little sheepish. "I've been reading up on Japan since you told me we'd be going."

"He is," Logan replied. "That was his son. Harada and I went around for years on who was the rightful samurai of clan Yashida. His kid wants to take the job, but he can't get the honor that goes with the title until he beats me."

"Well that's never gonna happen," Leslie Ann said, shaking her head. "Can't he do it some other way?"

"Not if I'm breathin'," he replied. "It's not a big deal. Harada cheated to win and I still beat him. The old man poisoned me to beat me — and I still won. They don't know how to fight square anyhow, and cheatin' brings more dishonor on their name. You think they'd learn."

"Maybe they'll figure it out this time," Leslie Ann offered, though Logan looked like he simply didn't believe that was possible.

"The whole thing is stupid. I don't  _want_ the title. I gave it to Harada years ago. But because this guy is new … thinks he's gotta prove himself. Probably got handed the old 'kill the  _gaijin'_ routine."

"Maybe he should find a different job," Leslie Ann suggested with a little smile. "Since he's never ever gonna beat you."

"Maybe we should find something better to do than mess around with samurai wannabes that hang out with  _honorless_ ninjas."

Leslie Ann leaned forward with a little crooked grin. "I was totally going to smack some ninjas with bamboo."

"I'm sure we'll have to deal with some before we head back," Logan told her. "We always do. This group was holding back so the kid could take his shot. They won't next time."

Leslie Ann playfully hit his arm with the back of her hand. "We can take 'em," she said confidently as she fell into step with him and Bobby the rest of the way down the mountain.

* * *

The rest of the trip was amazingly peaceful, though Logan never did relax for it, and when they finally returned to Tokyo, Leslie Ann was more than ready to try out some of the local cuisine.

Bobby was complaining loudly about Logan's choice of restaurant, though Logan had expected as much. "I swear to God, Logan — we fly to the other side of the world, you  _promise_ world class food, and you bring us to a sushi bar in a subway. You have got to be kidding me."

"It's the best place in the city," he defended. "And what do you know about it anyhow?"

"That's, like, the basic rule of sushi. Even  _I_ know that," Bobby argued.

"If we were stateside, or if it was any other place, I'd agree," he countered. "But in this case, you don't know what you're talkin' about." He held the door open for Leslie Ann, and the three of them headed over to take a seat at the bar before Logan ordered for the three of them and leaned over to whisper the rules to Leslie Ann.

"Whatever he gives you, just pick it up and eat it. Doesn't matter if you use the chopsticks or not."

"Oh good, because I kinda stink at those," Leslie Ann admitted with a bit of a blush.

"Don't worry about it. This guy is good; he'll make it to size for you," Logan promised. "Bobby's pieces will be huge."

"Did you ask him to do that?" she asked with a little giggle.

"Nope, he just makes them to fit your mouth," Logan replied with a little smirk.

"You shouldn't make fun of him," Leslie Ann said, but not even she sounded like she believed that — she was just defending her favorite X-Man.

"Just pay attention and tell me who gets the biggest pieces," Logan whispered as the first round of sushi was set down in front of the three of them. He gave her a moment to compare before he picked up his piece with the chopsticks and popped it in his mouth.

She giggled a bit and followed his lead, grinning around the first bite as she did so. "Ooh. This is good!"

The two of them looked at Bobby, who looked a bit wary, but he followed suit, and seemed a bit surprised himself when it wasn't as terrible as he thought. The rest of their meal came just like that, one bite on top of another, never a new piece until the last one was gone — and the nigiri just made way for more interesting-looking offerings that Bobby was certain he did not want to touch, let alone eat. But he kept going as long as Leslie Ann did.

"I don't want to know what that was," Bobby said after he swallowed a particularly … colorful bit.

"Oh, don't tell me. It might ruin it, and this stuff is pretty good," Leslie Ann said earnestly.

" _Tobiko_ ," Logan said. "I told you and it still isn't an issue."

"Yeah, but I don't know what that  _means_ ," she laughed as she tried another nigiri. "Don't tell me."

"I'll tell you later," he said. "But this — believe it or not, Iceman — is one of the most expensive joints in the country. And one of the best."

"Alright, I admit it — this place is good," Bobby said.

"Always so surprised," Logan muttered before he lifted his glass of beer.

"Can I try some of that?" Leslie Ann asked with a bit of a hopeful look.

"Not a chance," Logan replied. "I'm not gonna slip booze to an underage kid whose dad is a frikkin' cop."

She looked a bit put out. "I wouldn't  _tell_ him."

"Until the next time you got liquored up — then it'd be 'no dad, this isn't the first time… _Wolverine_ let me take a sip in Japan...'" he teased.

She rolled her eyes at him and stuck her tongue out. "Fi-ine," she breathed out, rolling her head as she said it, though she was still grinning. She put down her chopsticks and breathed out, "I think… I think I'm getting full."

"Just hold up your hand when you've had enough," Logan told her as the chef prepared another round.

She nodded and did so with a little sheepish smile. "I want to keep eating, because it's  _good_  — but I'm stuffed," she said almost apologetically.

"They don't speak English, darlin'," he told her. "But I'm sure they didn't expect a little thing like you to do the full twenty."

"Maybe next time we come?" she asked hopefully.

"Maybe," he agreed as he simply finished up, razzing Bobby to keep going even though Leslie Ann had tapped out. When the meal was totally finished, the three of them thanked their chef, and Logan picked up the tab as they made their way out.

It was a beautiful night, and music was echoing the streets as they headed toward their hotel room. Leslie Ann was feeling pretty good, considering she had plenty of time to let her meal settle while the two men finished up.

"D'you think I could learn to speak Japanese? I really wanted to thank that guy," Leslie Ann said cheerfully. "Mom's always telling me it's bad manners not to thank someone for a good meal like that, so I feel kinda bad."

"Sure, I can teach you enough to get by," Logan agreed.

She beamed at him and nodded. "Thanks! That — that would be really cool."

They were nearly to the hotel when the locals all scattered, and they found themselves surrounded by ninjas — again.

"Okay, these guys aren't gonna be as friendly as they were before," Logan said. "So don't be friendly back."

As soon as the first one broke the circle, Logan dove at him, and the fight started — though Bobby tried to keep Leslie Ann close, since the amount of greenery in the city was slim.

She gladly stuck close to him, muttering a bit under her breath about how little there was to work with for her there — though she had been brushing up on her hand-to-hand to prep for that trip, and it showed. She dodged a few blows with a delighted sort of astonished giggle before she spotted a crack in the sidewalk and grinned even wider as she reached out to the plants underneath the sidewalk — and the whole thing suddenly surged and blew apart, sending a few ninjas flying in different directions.

"Did you  _see_ that?" she asked Bobby excitedly, and he couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, that was really good," he told her. "Keep it up!" With that, he pulled her up onto some ice to skate clear of a small group of ninjas that had tried to come up on her blind side, and the two slid to some new opponents.

While they were freezing and more or less disorienting their opponents, Logan had slipped into a serious focus and was taking the brunt of the ninjas surrounding him without his claws, though that wasn't of much consolation to the ninjas once he took a sword off of one of them and went into a totally different kind of dance with them.

Leslie Ann was doing well, though she did not have anywhere  _near_ the stamina she needed to put up with professional clan ninjas. She'd just gotten in a good shot when one of them wrapped an arm around her chest from behind, pinning her arms to her side. He reached up with the other hand to try and cover her mouth, and she leaned into his hand and bit the snot out of him. When he pulled back in surprise at the move, she shouted at the top of her lungs for Logan and Bobby.

Both of them turned her way, but Logan sliced through two men and kicked another away in the rush to get closer to her. The ninja tried to use her as a shield, which really only ticked Logan off more, and he threw the sword away to grab Leslie Ann's arm and yank her away from the guy with one hand and stab him in the heart with the claws in his other hand.

"Bobby!" Logan shouted. "Get her outta here! I'll clean up!"

It only took a second for Bobby to catch up to the two of them, and Leslie Ann was wide-eyed and shaking as he got her on an ice slide and took off high above the fight to get her somewhere safe, setting her down in a nearby park where there was nature and relative quiet so she could more or less fall apart.

"He won't be too long," Bobby promised. "But I'm going to stay here with you, okay?"

Leslie Ann just nodded and leaned over until her head was on his shoulder as she simply started to cry — more because she was scared than anything else — as the adrenaline crash and everything else hit her at once.

Bobby wasn't wrong either. It was only another ten minutes or so before Logan walked up to the two of them, a bit more bloodied than last they saw them, and still bow-string tense. "You guys have enough of Tokyo?" Logan asked. "I think it's time we head out."

"Yeah, I think so," Bobby said over the top of Leslie Ann's curls; she was still half tucked into him.

"Whenever you're ready, then," he said, turning his back on them to keep watch for more trouble.

It took another little bit before Leslie Ann could find her voice, but when she did, it was to say, "I'm okay. Really."

"You did good, kiddo," Logan said. "I  _thought_ all this mess was over with. If I'd known it was an issue, I'd have fixed it before I brought you here."

"It's not your fault people are stupid," she said as she finally picked her head up to look his way. She took a deep breath. "Maybe ... maybe I need more practice," she admitted in a very small voice.

Logan smirked at her. "You're young. There'll be more trips to Japan. Next time, we'll bring K. That oughta liven it up a little."

That seemed to brighten Leslie Ann up substantially. "Yeah. Next time ... do you think she'll let me try sake?" she asked with a little smirk, though she definitely hadn't come unglued from Bobby, either.

"I think I'll warn her not to, or she probably  _would_ ," Logan replied.

Leslie Ann stuck her tongue out at him and quickly wiped at her cheeks as she tried to not look like she'd just been crying. "Okay. Let's go home, then," she said with a nod. "I don't really want to stay where those ninja guys are."

"Then you might be better off coming to Japan with someone else," Bobby teased. "He's got some kind of ninja lure coming out of his pores."

She had to giggle a bit. "Yeah, Miss Kate told me that," she agreed. "But she made it sound fun. That… wasn't fun."

"Miss Kate is a little touched in the head, and she had Kurt teleporting her all over the damn place," Logan replied. "Different experience."

Leslie Ann grinned. "Well, I'll just work really hard on my fighting so I'll be more ready next time," she promised as she finally came untucked. "Maybe it's more fun if you're winning."

"What are you talkin' about?" Logan asked with a frown. "We won. Why do you think they tried to grab you? They got desperate."

"Oh, I thought they were just being stupid and mean," she said, looking down.

"That's true too," Bobby said. "It's a job requirement: stupid, mean, and ugly enough they have to hide behind a mask and hood."

She snickered a bit at that. "Yeah, and they taste horrible."

"I grabbed that bag of candy for Jubes," Bobby said. "You need a cherry sucker, I think."

She broke into a wide grin and nodded. "Yes, please," she said, and the two X-Men could tell she was feeling better because the previously wilting grass around her and Bobby was starting to get back some of its life.

"Well let's grab our stuff and head home," Logan said gently. "I'm sure your folks are missing you — and Jana's going to be jealous you got to beat up ninjas." He nudged Bobby. "Isn't that right?"

"Jana? Kate'll be jealous," Bobby said with a laugh.

"Yeah, but Miss Kate is jealous when anybody has  _any_ fun without her," Leslie Ann giggled.

Logan smirked her way and took a few steps closer to hand her something heavy with a few sharp edges. " _She_  didn't think to grab a souvenir when she took a turn. Have a throwing star."

Her jaw dropped, and she broke into a little delighted laugh as she looked down at the throwing star. "That… this is  _so cool_."

The two X-Men shared a look, and they led the girl off to pack up and get to the jet before any other trouble could creep up on them, though once Leslie Ann fell asleep, they talked about what kind of a mess Logan had stumbled into this time.

The only problem, of course, was that Logan couldn't give Bobby a solid answer as to what he was going to  _do_ about it — particularly since he could see their point in needing a proper samurai, but also that he felt his commitment to the Yashida clan was over. By the time Logan had quit trying to figure out which angle was right, even Bobby was confused — since any little thing on either side was a hit on someone's honor in some way or another.

When they finally got back to Westchester, they were sure to drop Leslie Ann off at her parents' house, and Anton met them at the door to look over his little girl to be sure that she was alright before he gave Logan a bit of a nod over her head that she didn't seem to notice because she was too busy telling him about the trees and the flowers.

"Come on; why don't we get those pictures off your camera so we can show your mom when she wakes up?" Anton offered, pulling Leslie Ann inside, and she gave both of the X-men a cheery wave goodbye.


	13. Old Man

For as lost in thought as Logan had been coming back from Japan, he hadn't been prepared for the expression K was wearing when they stepped out of the hangar.

She took a moment to give him a kiss to welcome him back before she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered out the news to him that Harry Tabeshaw had passed away earlier that day. For a moment, it was clear that Logan was shocked, but then he simply wrapped his arms around her and held on tight for a long moment.

"You should go find Kurt," she said in a quiet tone. "I know he's waiting for you, and when you two are done … you know where I'll be." She took a moment to give him a long and lingering sort of kiss before he let out a breath and nodded his head.

They headed up to the main floor, hand in hand and quiet, and even Bobby looked like he'd been taken down a peg by the news. K pulled Logan along, avoiding Jubilee and Noh ... all the way until she found Kurt in Kate's office. She knocked gently on the door and poked her head in before she pulled Logan along with her.

"Do you have some time this afternoon?" she asked Kurt, not even bothering to hide the tip of her head toward Logan.

"And all the way through this evening," Kurt replied with a little nod.

"Okay. You boys go do what you gotta do. When you get him good and liquored up, bring him back so I can take a turn trying to cheer him up," K teased lightly as she looked over to Logan then stole a kiss. .

Kurt smirked her way for the slightest moment before he teleported over to stand beside Logan. "I'll bring him back later," he said with a small nod before he took Logan down to the dock — with plenty of whiskey in hand.

Before he did anything else, Kurt made a point to wrap his friend in a hug before he handed him a bottle of whiskey and gestured for Logan to sit with him on the dock. "Please, join me."

"Not a bad idea," Logan replied flatly. He took a seat and cracked open a bottle to take a deep pull. "So. I can't leave without crap going wrong while I'm gone now, eh?"

"Amazingly, the world still turns no matter where you go," Kurt said with an attempt at a smirk.

"Yeah, but this ain't the kinda news to come home to," Logan said softly. "Not that I left Tokyo with great news either."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kurt said sincerely. "More than the usual trouble, then?"

Logan waved a hand at him and took another deep pull. "Just somethin' I thought was in the past. Yashida business. They got an upstart little punk kid of Harada's who wants to take over the family business."

Kurt frowned. "I thought that was over," he sighed.

"He blew it already, strictly speakin'," Logan replied. "Attacked me without offering me a weapon. Surrounded us with ninjas. He thinks if he kills me, he'll win honor back for his family, but … it'd take a helluva lot more'n that." He looked up at Kurt for a moment. "Pulled a neat little trick you woulda liked when he came at me with the honor sword before I threw it on the ground."

"Oh?" Kurt couldn't help but look both proud and interested as his tail swished almost lazily behind him.

"Not exactly a pirate trick, more a .. pissed off samurai kinda thing," Logan explained. "I took the scabbard off him, and when he attacked, I sheathed his sword and took it from 'im."

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle. "And people say  _I_ am the dramatic one."

"You  _are,_ " Logan insisted.

Kurt smirked. "I am," he agreed. "But still."

They were quiet for a while as Logan's mood shifted again. "When's the funeral?"

"Two weeks, in Alaska," Kurt said quietly.

"Scott got a list of who wants to follow me?"

"Yes," Kurt said with a bit of a nod. "And of course, I'll come with you."

Logan shook his head a bit. "Don't have to."

"I want to," Kurt insisted. "I have no better place to be than with my best friend." He rested a hand on Logan's shoulder. "I'm sorry,  _mein Freund_."

"He was gettin' old. Nothin' anyone could do about it."

"Still, if there is anything I can do…" Kurt sighed and watched Logan for a moment before he took a pull from the bottle. "It's always hard to lose a friend."

Logan simply got quieter, his eyes on the water as he continued to drink, and Kurt fell silent beside him, just offering his friend someone to drink with as they both watched the water in quiet contemplation.

It was well after dinner was over before the two of them headed back up to the house. Kurt was leaning heavily on Logan for support, and Logan looked stoic as he handed Kurt off to Kate at their room then headed down to his own. He was feeling pretty damn old and a little bit miserable until he stepped in to find Elin and James curled up asleep around K. She looked up at him with a little tight smile. "They slept here while you were gone," she explained.

He let out a weary breath and kicked off his boots before he climbed into bed and pulled all three of them a little bit closer to settle in. "Good," he said, curling into them. "Spoil the hell out of 'em when my back is turned."

"You are lying to yourself if you're trying to pretend like you don't do it when you're here," she replied before he kissed her for a good long moment. "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too," he admitted before he tucked in and kept one arm across the whole little group of them.

* * *

The day before Harry's funeral, Logan and K had thrown together a little bag for the trip, and the little family of Howletts headed downstairs to leave for Alaska before the storm front came through. Heavy snow was predicted for the night before and the morning of the funeral, and they needed to be sure they were there ahead of the weather.

Kurt met them downstairs — both he and Kate were ready to go. Jubilee was in a hovering state of shock still from the news, but she had made it clear she was  _not_ going to miss Harry's funeral.

Logan took a breath and looked up at the little gathered group and nodded as K handed James over to Annie. "If we're going, we should be gettin' ahead of the weather."

"You'll need a pilot," said Scott as he was the last to arrive and looked ready to go as well with a small overnight bag.

Logan looked up at him with an open look of surprise before he nodded lightly. "Guess I do."

Scott held his gaze for a second with a small frown before he headed to the plane without another word — while the others kept an eye on Logan or Elin and James, whoever it was they felt needed the attention the most at any given moment.

The flight up was fairly easy, though as they came in for a landing, it was pretty clear that the weather report was right on the money; the clouds coming in from the northwest were heavy, black and ominous looking.

The airport had them put the jet in the hangar next to Harry's old bomber, and for a moment, Logan, Jubilee and Scott all just stared at the old warbird, clearly thinking of one adventure or another where the old C-47 had saved their necks.

Finally, Scott let out a small breath. "There's a nice lodge near my old neighborhood. Usually pretty quiet; I've got us some rooms," he said as he started to direct the group out.

No one had a thing to say as Scott took them to his spot near the woods, and they weathered out the night without incident — outside of Logan and Kurt drinking heavily and watching the snow fall.

The funeral itself was a bit more packed than Jubilee had figured. All kinds of locals had made it, and several people from back in Harry's old hometown near Vancouver had come too. The whole thing was fairly quick and filled with good stories that everyone had about Harry. But through it all, Logan simply listened, and when it was over, the little group quietly headed back out.

Harry's plane, they overheard, was being donated to a museum that simply couldn't understand how or why the old man had put so many hours on the old bird, but they were tickled to have it as an exhibit. Before the X-Men left, Logan and Scott climbed into Harry's Dakota to say goodbye to the old girl.

Logan took his time as he walked through the plane and took a moment to drop into the co-pilot chair and lean back to simply look at the old instrument panel. The yolk on the pilot's side was well-worn, and the leather that covered it was shiny from wear. It was easy to see exactly how Harry liked to hold it when he was around. "He was more like a fighter pilot than a transport pilot," Logan said suddenly as he tipped his chin to the yolk. "His old SO hated the way he flew."

"Got us out of plenty of scrapes, so I'm not complaining," Scott said quietly.

"He was the best at the time, for sure. If you thought he was good when you knew him, you shoulda seen him when he was young.  _No fear_."

"I'm sorry I didn't get to see that."

Logan smirked a bit and let out a sigh. "You two probably woulda teamed up on me. Nope. Better you didn't."

"Well now I'm even more sorry. Would've been nice to have backup," Scott said with a bit of a smirk to match.

Logan chuckled a little and nodded. "Doubt either of you would need the backup," he replied before he got up and spent just another silent moment in the cockpit before he started to head toward the door. "Doubt she would have kept airborne much longer. Harry was the only one that knew a damn thing about these planes. Probably better someone appreciates her." When he stepped out and hit the concrete, he gestured to Scott. "Lead the way."

Scott watched Logan for a moment and then nodded as he led the little group back to the blackbird and started up his prep. Kurt had Elin on one knee telling her stories about the plane her dad had been sitting in. Jubilee was sitting next to Kate with her head on her friend's shoulder, and both of them fell asleep quickly, tired from travel and taking care of their friends. And for the most part, except for Kurt's quiet stories, the blackbird was quiet.

K had given Logan a kiss as soon as he was close enough — and the two of them snuggled up, holding hands and keeping to themselves. It wasn't long after takeoff that Elin came over and climbed up to give her father a kiss and snuggle into K, tuckered out from all the travel and socializing. Within a few minutes, Elin had fallen asleep, and K wasn't too far behind, though she hadn't let go of Logan's hand.

It was another few minutes before Kurt moved to sit on Logan's other side, his head tipped slightly as he looked over his old friend and let out a sigh. "How are you doing,  _mein Freund_?"

"Fine," Logan replied in a low, quiet rumble. "I'm always fine. You know that."

"And sometimes it's a lie. I know that too," Kurt said with a little nod as he leaned back.

Logan glanced at K and Elin as they slept and then over to Jubilee and Kate. He even took just a second to see if Scott looked like he was paying attention before he turned his head Kurt's way. "It's just … tiring. I'm used to people dyin' on me. It's pretty damn common. But … for some reason, when it happens like it's supposed to — without all the violence? Makes me remember how old I am."

"Because it's so uncommon?" Kurt asked, trying to follow him.

"No," he said, shaking his head lightly. "I think because it's just … I knew him when he was a punk kid fresh to the military. I watched him grow up. And somewhere along the line, he got old."

"That's how things are supposed to go, I'm told," Kurt said.

"Doesn't make it any easier to watch 'em all die on you. One way or another."

"No, it doesn't," Kurt had to concede with a bit of a sigh as he found his gaze slipping toward the women curled up asleep across from them.

"After a while, it makes it hard to want to know  _anyone_ ," Logan admitted.

Kurt looked surprised for a moment before he nodded thoughtfully. "I'm glad you don't give up on us, then," he said. "I'd be worse off not knowing you,  _mein Freund_ , even if it's often the case we leave you too soon."

"It's not a matter of you guys leavin' too soon," he said. "I'm thinkin' more like I'm over my stay."

"Because you feel you should be with them," Kurt surmised quietly. He paused and tipped his head at K and Elin. "But you should be with  _them_. And with us. With me, with Kate, with Jubilee—"

"Not goin' anywhere, Elf," Logan said softly. "Just thinkin' out loud."

"Good." Kurt nodded once and leaned back again. "I have a feeling I'll need my Wolverine in my own elder years."

Logan let out a little laugh. "You won't," he said. "You sure don't now."

" _L_ _ä_ _cherlich_ ," Kurt scoffed. "Where would I be without my Wolverine to help me with my three princesses to keep them safe?"

"Likely far away from the trouble I bring with me and perfectly happy," Logan replied.

"And having never met Kate to save her from the trouble you bring," Kurt said with a raised eyebrow.

"For the record — I didn't bring  _that_ trouble. It was there already."

Kurt smirked the slightest bit. "Ah, but you are the perfect bait for adventure. Why do you think we stick around?"

"Head trauma?" Logan deadpanned.

"Nonsense." Kurt just shook his head.

"Well, with a little luck, this one will last me a while," he said, tipping his head toward K.

"It's my hope you both see each other through to the end of your long lives," Kurt told him honestly. He had to smirk the slightest bit as he added, "And through many a generation of elflings."

"Yeah, probably gonna have to herd 'em, the way you two're goin'."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Kurt said with a smirk.

"Puttin' words in my mouth," he replied. "Seems that you pass on the genetic predisposition to ignore any damn thing I say to every one of 'em."

"It's not just my genes," Kurt laughed. "They have a double dose of trouble."

"Then I guess I better hope our kids get good healing in their cards then," Logan said. "So they can pull your princesses' asses outta trouble."

"There will be Wagners and Howletts getting in and out of trouble until the end of days,  _mein Freund_ ," Kurt promised him.

"And Summerses as far as the eye can see, likely," Logan added, just to see if Scott was eavesdropping — which, if the smirk was anything to go by, he was. Logan took in a deep, cleansing breath and let it out very slowly. "It's taken me a couple lifetimes to figure it out, but it's worth it. I think."

"It is," Kurt agreed without hesitation. "It has to be, or there would be no reason for it."

Logan nodded. "I tried avoiding people. Just to keep from losin' 'em. Didn't work."

"No, you care too much to do that," Kurt said.

"Didn't used to," he said even quieter.

"I somehow doubt that," Kurt said, matching his quiet tone. He chewed over his next thought for a moment before he said, "It seems to be genetic. When Kate and I visited that alternate future, Elin was doing the same thing — trying to distance herself to avoid losing anyone she cared for."

"It's a dumb kid move," Logan said with a nod. "I lived with the wolves for a while, you know."

"Thank God you grew out of that and into living with elves instead," Kurt said with a smirk.

"You can thank Sinister and the Creeds for that — so I don't think that was one bit about God," Logan replied.

"He still brought you to live with elves, though," Kurt insisted. He shook his head. "He likely knew I'd need it."

"There was a damn big gap between that time and you," Logan said, shaking his head. "Just dumb luck, I think."

"I don't believe that for a moment, and you know it," Kurt said with a small smile. "Just like I don't believe it was dumb luck that brought you back to me with my future wife in tow. Thank you for that, by the way."

"Thank her; she was taggin' along."

Kurt chuckled. "It's a good thing she's asleep," he teased. "Or there would be a loud argument on that point. Likely she'll be arguing it for the rest of her life."

"That's sad. For her to be so wrong for the rest of her life," Logan said as he leaned back a little bit.

"So stubborn, you mean," Kurt corrected him. He looked Kate's way and let out a sigh. "Still, I hope she's wrong and stubborn for a good, long time. All that's happened recently ... it's just reminded me we don't have that guarantee. And even if we do…" He trailed off and shook his head, leaning back a bit further. "Well, never mind that. It's far, far in the future, with any luck."

"What's eatin' you, Elf?" Logan said with a little frown. "Just spit it out."

Kurt let out a breath of a laugh. "I forgot who I was talking to for a moment — can't hide anything from you," he teased before he shook his head. "It's just that watching you — watching what happens when you outlive your friends and loved ones — has reminded me of my own inherited lifespan. I am getting old, Logan, but I still don't look it."

"Yes you do," Logan argued. "Nowhere near as spry lookin' as when we met though."

Kurt sat up a bit straighter and gave Logan a bit of a look. "I'd be more insulted if I didn't find myself wanting to get older with her," he said at last, tipping his head toward Kate.

"Well. You picked a young one, so that's in your favor anyhow."

"She was so upset about this latest birthday," Kurt chuckled a bit. "Now that she's as old as I  _look_."

"Don't know what to tell you, Elf. I never had a girl last me long enough to worry about old age."

Kurt let out a breath. "I know. I suppose we'll just have to take it as it comes." He smirked slightly. "I seem to worry in my old age, I guess," he added with a twinkle in his eyes.

"That's all anyone gets to do, old man," Logan teased.

"Then it's a good thing I have my Wolverine with me," Kurt said.

Logan tipped his chin toward Kate. "You should probably head over to her. I don't think she's sleeping that hard without her giant bamf doll."

"Likely not," Kurt agreed. He rested a hand on Logan's arm for a moment and gave him a warm smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Go snuggle your old lady."

"Oh, don't call her that, please. She's upset enough as it is," Kurt said, though he was chuckling as he stood. "At least wait until  _I_ start to gray as well."

"Is that what's got her worked up?" Logan asked. "Because she's not the only one dealin' with that. Not  _me_ , of course."

"Of course," Kurt said with a smirk. But now his curiosity was piqued, and his ears were perked. "But others."

"Yeah, they seem to run in the same crowd. Hair dye stinks, you know."

"You have a much more sensitive sense of smell than I do," Kurt laughed.

"I've got a more sensitive sense of just about everything over everyone."

"Yes, you are sensitive," Kurt couldn't help but tease.

"Regular shrinkin' violet."

Kurt chuckled and shook his head at Logan. "Now I'm curious to see just how many on our team are as vain as you are," he teased. "I'll have to watch more closely."

"I'm not the one frettin' about gray hair," Logan countered.

"Do I look gray to you?" Kurt shot back, gesturing at himself.

Logan tipped his head and looked him over carefully. "Not as deep of a blue as you were before."

Kurt scoffed. " _L_ _ä_ _cherlich._ "

"No, ... you used to be the same shade as your little entourage … "

"You're ridiculous — they get their shade  _from_ me."

Logan leaned his way and whispered to him, "They're darker."

Kurt drew himself up and shook his head at Logan. "You're … ugh. That's just not the case."

"My very old eyes are better than yours too, Elf." Logan smirked at him as he pulled K under his arm to settle in. "Or … maybe I'm just tryin' to make you feel better."

Kurt straightened up a bit more and gave Logan another look before he made a mental note to check the old pictures from when he first joined the team and prove his old friend wrong — or right, as the case may be — before he sat down next to Kate and snuggled in for the remainder of the flight out.


	14. Looking To The Past And The Future

As soon as the funeral-goers arrived back at the mansion, they were greeted by Annie and James, who of course ran full bore forward until Scott scooped him up and had to laugh at the little guy. Annie, on the other hand, ran right for Logan and K and wrapped her arms around both of them to hug them tight.

"We weren't gone that long, were we?" Logan asked.

"No, but you need hugs," Annie insisted.

"You been drinkin' Kate's Kool-aid again?" he teased, though he gave her a hug right back.

She had to smirk at that. "If that were true, I'd make sure there were more witnesses, and you know it," she teased right back. "You just need hugs is all."

"I'm fine, thanks," he told her before he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

She squeezed him a bit tighter for a moment before she moved on to scoop Elin up and ask her how her trip had gone.

"We got to have a snowstorm," Elin said with wide eyes and a big smile. "I like the snow."

"Of course you do," Annie said with a little laugh. "Did you stay warm? You know Miss Kate hates the cold — did you help her find blankets?"

She nodded solemnly and tipped her head Kate's way. "We had lotsa hot chocolate."

"That's the only good part of snowstorms," Kate called Elin's way with a little laugh. "That and cuddles."

"Uncle Scott had a snowball fight with me," Elin reported before she leaned forward. " _That_  is the best part of snowstorms."

Annie nodded her agreement and leaned forward to match Elin. "Did you win?"

"Only because he let me," she said with a dramatic eye roll Scott's way as she shot him a  _look_ with her hands on her hips _._

Scott held up the hand that wasn't holding James and grinned. "Hey, you were giving me a run for my money."

"Daddy says it's not right to  _lie._ "

Annie laughed outright as she booped Elin in the nose. "Your daddy's right," she said, laughing even harder at the look Scott shot her way.

"What about you? How were things at the mansion?" Kate asked. "The girls give you any trouble?"

"Probably went like clockwork with the trouble magnets gone," Logan called over to her as Elin ran toward him.

"All the youngest kids were just  _fine_ ," Annie assured her. "It's the older ones you have to watch out for. You know they've started up a betting pool again?"

"For what this time?" Scott asked.

"Jubes and Noh," Annie reported. "It seems the students are siding with Sying," she added, shooting a little smile Jubilee's way. "They're encouraging him, so don't be surprised when he starts asking you again for a little brother or sister. I  _did_ try to tell them not to use him to win their bets, but they outnumber me, and we have a whole school full of troublemakers."

"Good thing Logan's not in the pool, since he always knows before we do. And then he is a  _mother hen_ ," Kate said, shooting a look at Logan.

"Not even sorry when you wander around on good days in need of a helmet and mouth guards," Logan said in an easy tone.

"Wrong Hawkeye," was the almost automatic response.

"Your arm still wrapped?" he asked. "Or was it your ankle this week?"

She rolled her eyes. "Ankle was last week, and Ty fixed it up, and you know it."

"Yes, but the arm was the week before that," Kurt said with a little smirk, and Kate smacked him playfully in the arm.

"Don't  _encourage_ him."

"Don't give me so much material," Logan replied.

"You'd be wrapped twice as often as me if you didn't heal so fast — and you know it."

"What are you talkin' about?" Logan asked with a frown. "I'd be dead a hundred times over."

"No, you'd play it smarter like I have to and just get wrapped all the time," Kate countered, which had Scott honestly trying his best to hide his laughter.

"Scott, would I play it smarter?" Logan said, turning toward Scott.

"Nope," Scott replied without hesitation, still grinning and trying not to laugh too hard.

"See? Dead. Hundred times over. Easy."

"Then you should be impressed with my  _only_ being wrapped every week, keeping up with you guys," Kate pointed out.

"Listen, you get hurt in stupid ways," Logan said. "I get hurt from literally running head first into gunfire. There is a difference."

"Yeah, yours is stupider." Kate had her hands on her hips, and Scott was back to trying not to laugh again.

"No," Logan said. "A samurai does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death."

"That explains so much," Scott muttered, shaking his head as Kate just gave Logan a  _look_.

"Well that makes Clint a samurai by that logic," she said.

"It really doesn't," Logan argued.

"Reckless, irrational, doesn't think…" Kate listed them off on her fingers.

"It's part of the honor code," Logan said. "You don't think about yourself. You think of the outcome, and you don't even consider the possibility of losing — because once you do, you've already lost."

"Okay, that part I like," Kate said, pointing his way with a small smile. "The not considering losing. Good outlook to have."

"I'd lend you my copy of  _Hagakure_ , but you don't read Japanese," Logan told her.

"I'll find one in English," she said with a shrug. "I may know a thing or two about books."

"Read it then," he said. "Covers the heart of the way the samurai thought."

"Which chapter covers hug magnetism?" she almost couldn't help but ask.

"The one right before the manual on how to remove a boot from your ass."

She smiled at him sweetly. "Can't wait to read that chapter. Seems like you need it."

"If you say so," Logan said as he picked up Elin. "See you later. Gotta get the little ones upstairs." The little ferals headed out right after K took James from Scott and gave him a little kiss on the cheek, though the rest of the group didn't depart right away.

"When you check out that book, get a copy for me, would you?" Scott asked Kate in a quiet undertone once the little family had left.

Kate smirked his way for a moment. "You want to learn the ways of hug magnetism too?" she asked innocently.

Scott gave her a dry look. "I'm just curious."

"Uh-huh." She smirked wider and flounced off to join Kurt and slip her arm through his.

The two of them made their way upstairs together, dropping by the living room to find Kari and Krissy both wrapped up with Noh, Kitty, and Peter Quill. Kari had her tail tightly wrapped around Peter and didn't seem to want to go anywhere at all, while Kitty and Noh were just trying to keep up with Krissy and Sying, who were climbing the walls — literally — in a game of tag. The bamfs were of course on the kids' side and were actively keeping Kitty and Noh from peeling either of the giggling toddlers off of the ceiling or walls — which of course only had both Sying and Krissy laughing harder.

"Krissy," Kurt called out, shaking his head, "what's the rule about walking on the walls and ceiling?"

Almost immediately upon realizing that she had been caught, Krissy stopped in her tracks and looked Kurt's way with wide eyes and a little sheepish smile. "Not when my hands are sticky."

"Or?"

"Or when my feet are wet or muddy."

Peter just grinned as he watched the conversation between father and daughter and couldn't help but laugh. "And here I just had 'don't draw on the walls' when I was a kid."

"We have that rule too," Kate chuckled his way as she sat down beside him to try and take Kari, though the little pink elfling gave her mother a very dry look and snuggled into Peter harder.

"Kari grumpy," Krissy explained as she climbed back down from the ceiling. "I think she miss you, Mama."

"I can see that," Kate said dryly as her little girl continued to give her a glare and wrap her tail even tighter around Peter, who shrugged apologetically. Finally, Kate let out a sigh, looked over at Peter with a twinkle in her eye, and said, "I guess I'll just go then," as she very dramatically got up from the couch and started to walk away, with got a loud squeak of protest from Kari until Kate came back to scoop her up and pepper her cheeks with little kisses.

Kurt smiled as he watched Kate and Kari and sat in a seat nearby, though his attention was quickly distracted when he saw the picture frame on the side table. It was an old picture of the team, years ago when he first joined, and he couldn't help but pick it up and examine it a bit closer, curious to know if Logan had been messing with him.

And, of course, he wasn't. It was clear to see even in the old picture that Kurt's fur was a much darker and deeper shade of blue, and Kurt looked down at himself with a bit of a frown as he realized he looked sort of faded in comparison.

Kitty must have noticed the look on his face, because she dropped down into the seat next to him and peered over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. "Your trip put you on the path down memory lane?" she asked curiously, and Kurt couldn't help but smile at her question.

"In a manner of speaking," he admitted. He gestured to the picture with a bit of a sigh. "We were all so young."

"Yeah, and we still are. I don't know what you're talking about," Kitty said. " _I'm_ not old."

Kurt smirked her way. "No, of course not."

"Good, because you looked like you were headed that way, and I  _had_ to cut it off at the pass."

"Me? Nonsense," Kurt said, shaking his head and looking affronted.

She grinned at him and gave him a little one-armed hug and she looked down at the picture and then made a face. "Oh, look at my  _hair_."

He let out a little laugh. "You looked darling."

"I looked like I had a mop on my head." Kitty snatched the picture out of Kurt's hand and set it on the table. "No, no."

He gave her a crooked grin. "You weren't the only one to make questionable fashion decisions."

"Trust me; I've been living with space aliens and all sorts of crazy. I  _know_ , Fuzzy Elf. I know."

He chuckled a bit more at that, though he didn't get to say anything further as Krissy distracted both of their attention by climbing up into his lap. "Inna see," she said as she tried to make a grab for the picture. "Inna see."

Kurt gently picked it up so that Krissy wouldn't fall over trying to get to the picture, and she giggled delightedly as she immediately picked out her dad in the picture. "Papa so  _small_ ," she said, turning her head — and the picture — sideways as she considered it. " _D_ _ü_ _nn_."

"Well, this picture was taken a long time ago," Kurt tried to explain. "See this? This is Kitty," he added, and Krissy narrowed her eyes at the picture.

"Nu-uh."

"Yes, it really is," Kitty said with a little laugh.

Krissy narrowed her eyes even further at the picture, still clearly not believing it. "Where Mama?" she asked at last.

"Mama's not in this picture,  _Prinzessin_ ," Kurt told her.

"Why?"

"Because she wasn't an X-Man yet," Kurt explained.

"Why?"

Kitty snorted a bit at the insistent purple elf, and Kurt shot her a look before he tried to explain, "She was too little to join the X-Men."

"Miss Kitty little in this picture," Krissy argued. "So where Mama?"

"She was  _really_ little," Kitty said. "She was probably littler than you," she added, poking Krissy in the stomach and tickling her to get a giggle out of her.

Krissy giggled and swatted at Kitty's hand until she stopped. "Okay. That's little," she agreed, then paused. "But not  _too_ little. Inna be an X-Man too soon!"

"When you are older and you get your powers," Kurt said with a little smile and a nod, "then you can start to learn how to use them to become an X-Man."

"Se-e-e-e?" Krissy smiled triumphantly at Kitty. "I not so little. Inna be an X-Man  _real_ soon!"

"Sure you are, Krissy," Kitty said with a grin as she tickled the little girl again. "I bet you'll even be better than your dad."

"Uh-huh!" She giggled and pushed Kitty's hand away. "Inna be the  _best X-Man ever_."

Kitty just laughed and started to really tickle the little elfling, which dissolved into a whole lot of giggling on both sides as Krissy tried to tickle her back until Sying rushed over to try to save Krissy — and ended up getting caught up by Kurt and tickled as well.

The group of them stayed and played for a little while longer, but it was clear that Kari was done when she started to fuss and glare and let out little squeaks, so Kate took her upstairs — and Sying and Krissy weren't long after that, either.

Kate was still putting Kari down when Kurt arrived with Krissy, so he took Krissy to her room and gently tucked her in, singing little German lullabies very quietly as he waited for the little elfling to drop off to sleep. An he found he was also fairly exhausted from the travel and then playing with his little girl.

When Krissy finally drifted off, he knew she was asleep because of the little light snoring, and he carefully and quietly crept out of the room to go change into his own pajamas and get ready for bed. He met a couple bamfs on the way who were ready for snuggles too — and an idea occurred to him.

He crouched down by the bamfs and whispered a few instructions to them in German, and their ears and tails perked up at the prospect of something fun to do. A few more bamfs started to gather, clearly sensing the excitement, and before long, they were all nodding their enthusiasm about the whole idea, and they vanished in little poofs of smoke.

Kurt smirked to himself a bit as he went about the rest of the nighttime routine — brushing his teeth, changing into his pajamas, pulling Kate into bed with him once she finally managed to get Kari to sleep… And they were in a deep snuggle and halfway asleep themselves by the time the bamfs returned.

Two of them had discarded boxes for hair dye and were chattering their report as Kate sat up a bit and stared tiredly at them while Kurt shook his head at their timing.

"Kurt," Kate said, "why do the bamfs care that Jubes and Scott are dyeing their hair?"

Kurt looked a bit sheepish as the bamfs seemed to strut a bit at their amazing detective work. "Logan mentioned something earlier; I was curious-"

"You little imp." Kate sat up a bit and shook her head at him. "You little… you little half-demon  _imp_."

Kurt shrugged openly. "I needed to know."

"Why, so you could ask them the best brands?" she asked, still shaking her head. "I've  _got_ my purple dye. And you're not gray yet."

"Nothing like that," he replied with a little frown. "I'm just … I'm surprised they're dyeing, that's all."

"Well,  _I_  am gonna be dyeing. What's wrong with that?" Kate asked.

"Nothing; he just said that a couple of our team mates weren't entirely …" He let out a sigh. "Nevermind. Pin it on that fact that I sometimes have to let the imp out."

She rolled her eyes at him and playfully smacked him with her pillow. "Just because  _you_ and your ridiculous bestie stay frustratingly thirty doesn't mean the rest of us have it so easy."

"It came up on the plane," Kurt said before she could get worked up further. "I was asking him how he was coping with the whole situation."

She deflated a bit at that and let out a sigh. "Yeah, he's even more ageless than you,  _Engelchen_. Can't be easy," she had to admit. "But still. You'd think you'd be happy we're dyeing it and still looking so young," she added, a bit of the tease coming back to her tone.

"I'm only happy when you are,  _Vögelchen_ _,_ " he replied earnestly.

She grinned at that and pulled him into a deep kiss. "Then you should be plenty happy right now," she told him before she just pulled him that much tighter.


End file.
